
u 



1899 






?2- 



THE STATE 



-OF — 



n 11 1 



WYOMING. 



AN OFFICIAL PUBLICATION CONTAINING RELIABLE 
INFORMATION CONCERNING THE RE- 
SOURCES OF THE STATE. 



Originally Compiled by Hon. C. W. Burdick, 

Secretary of State, 1898. 



Revised, Re-Edited and Published by 
Fenimore Chatterton, 

Secretary of State, 1899. 



• •• ... 



CHEYENNE, WYO. 
THE S. A. BRISTOL COMPANY, PRINTERS AND BOOKBINDERS 
1899. 



Mil 



71522 



)-i 






CONTENTS. 



Preface 5 

Wyoming 7 

The Yellowstone National Park 9 

Albany County 10 

Big Horn County 13 

Carbon County 17 

Converse County 20 

Crook County 22 

Fremont County ,. . ' 24 

Johnson County .' 27 

Laramie County 28 

Natrona County 31 

Sheridan County 33 

Sweetwater County 34 

Uinta County 36 

Weston County 38 

Agricultural Development 39 

Horticulture 46 

Live Stock 51 

Mineral Resources 53 

A Catalogue of Wyoming Minerals 61 

The Climate of Wyoming and Its Benefits 65 

Wages and Cost of Living 72 

Public Libraries 74 

Public Buildings and Institutions 74 

Educational Advantages 76 

Banks and Interest 79 

Corporations- — Fees 80 

Taxes and Public Indebtedness 81 

Property Valuations for 1897 and 1898 82 

Suffrage Qualifications 82 

Railroads and Stage Routes 83 

State Lands — How They May Be Acquired 84 

How to Secure the Use of Water for Irrigation 87 

Government Lands — How the Same May Be Acquired 89 

Mining Laws of Wyoming 93 

Hunting and Fishing — Synopsis of Law 100 

Brief Notes 101 

Elevation of Wyoming Cities and Altitude of Mountains 104 



PREFACE. 



Under a provision of law — since repealed — my predeces- 
sor, Hon. Charles W. Burdick, in 1898, prepared and published 
a pamphlet of useful information regarding the resources and 
advantages of this State. As evidence of their appreciation 
of his labor in its compilation, and the unquestioned beneficial 
results from its distribution, the Legislature of 1899, by 
special act, authorized me to revise, re-edit, publish and dis- 
tribute 5,000 copies thereof. 

In so doing I have found it necessary, because of a lim- 
ited appropriation, to eliminate many statistical tables, and 
to condense many of the articles furnished by those specially 
interested in the several sections of the State. 

I take pleasure in here giving grateful acknowledgment 
for the valuable services rendered by, and special credit to, 
the following named gentlemen, who have kindly interested 
themselves in furnishing much valuable information : • 

Prof. Elwood Mead, State Engineer; R. P. Fuller, Hon. 
J. A. Van Orsdel, Prof. Wilbur C. Knight, Dr. M. C. Bark- 
well, Prof. B. 0. Buffum, Hon. W. E. Chaplin, Hon. G. W. 
Fox, J. A. Breckons, Geo. S. Marx, Hon. W. D. Pickett, M. 
P. Wheeler, A. J. Parshall, J. F. Crawford, M. A. Adams, 
C. G. Coutant, Robert C. Morris, and Edward Gillette. 

It has been impossible, within the limited space allowed, 
to give much detailed information, but an honest endeavor 
has been made to give an accurate and reliable summary of 
the State's resources and advantages, under the stamp of 
official authority, from sources of the strictest reliability. 

Fenimore Chatterton, 

Secretary of State. 



WYOMING. 



Wyoming was organized as a territory July 25, 18(58, from 
what was then the southwestern portion of Dakota, north- 
eastern part of Utah, and eastern part of Idaho. On July 10, 
L890, the territory was admitted as a state by Act of Con- 
gress, being the forty-fourth state in order of admission. 

Its geographical location classes it among the states of 
the inter- mountain or arid region, being bounded on the 
north by Montana, on the east by Dakota and Nebraska, on 
the south by Colorado and Utah, and on the west by Utah, 
Idaho and Montana. Its length from east to west is 355 
miles; width from north to south 270 miles and it has an area 
of 97,890 square miles, or (52,(545, 120 acres. 

The region now comprised within the limits of the State 
was traversed by Canadian explorers and other venturesome 
persons at an early date, but the first white settlement appears 
to have been established at Ft. Laramie, in the eastern part of 
the State, in the year 1834. Subsequently trading posts were 
established in other localities, and still later the building of the 
Union Pacific Railroad and the adaptation of the western 
country to the cattle business led to further settlement. 

In general appearance the country is mountainous, with 
valleys, rolling plains and plateaus, the latter covered with 
grasses of great nutrition and furnishing admirable pasture 
for live stock, while the mean elevation is 6,000 feet above 
sea level, with extremes ranging from 3,000 to 14,000 feet. 
Probably 10,000,000 acres of the total area of the State are 
covered with timber. 

Flowing east or west, according as their source is on the 
eastern or western slope of the main range of the Rocky 
Mountains, which cross the State from north to south, are 
numerous streams, among the number being the North Platte, 
Snake River, Green River, the Big Horn, the Laramie, and 
the Yellowstone. None of these streams are navigable in a 
commercial sense, but they furnish water for the irrigation 
and development of the surrounding country and in some in- 
stances are used for the transportation of timber. 

The soil is a light sandy loam, darker and richer in the 
valleys. When reclaimed by the application of water, boun- 
tiful returns of agricultural products, with the exception of 
such as thrive only at low altitudes and warm, damp climates, 



8 STATE OF WYOMING. 

are secured. It is estimated that 10,000,000 acres of the area 
of the State are suitable for agricultural purposes by irrigation. 

There are thirteen counties, four judicial districts, four 
irrigation divisions, many school districts, but no township 
organization. The capital is located at Cheyenne, in the 
southeastern corner of the State. 

The climate is similar to that of the mountain region 
generally, and is not, as sometimes erroneously supposed, ex- 
traordinarily severe in the winter. The average mean tem- 
perature for the year is about 44 degrees, varying somewhat 
according to elevation, and the atmosphere is rarefied and 
pure, with but few cloudy days. High winds sometimes pre- 
vail during the spring and fall, but cyclones and tornadoes 
are unknown, while the dryness of the atmosphere tends to 
ameliorate the effects of extreme cold. Snow storms are 
usually followed by high winds, which serve to uncover the 
pastures so that live stock get the benefit of the grasses cured 
by the previous summer's sun, and as the cured native grasses 
retain their nutrition, it enables the stockman to support his 
stock upon the open range with little, and in the case of sheep- 
raising, no additional food. The severity and frequency of 
western blizzards have been largely exaggerated, so that some 
people consider the western climate as synonymous with con- 
stant storms, dangerous to life. Nothing could be farther 
from the truth, and but few climates are more bracing, health- 
ful or pleasant than the climate of the mountain region of the 
western states. The almost constant sunlight is not only 
pleasant, but beneficial from a sanitary standpoint, and it is 
a well recognized fact in the medical profession that certain 
diseases, notably pulmonary affections, are much benefitted 
by change from the states of lower altitudes to Wyoming or 
adjacent states. 

Gold, copper and coal mining, petroleum production and 
raising live stock are the most important business interests 
of the State. As will be noticed elsewhere in this publication, 
the supply of coal underlying the State is apparently inex- 
haustible, and constant employment is furnished to a great 
many miners. The raising of live stock, however, in its va- 
rious departments, probably claims the attention of more 
people than any other industry, and the facilities for prosecut- 
ing that business are such as to commend it to the attention 
of prospective settlers. It is a noticeable feature of the pres- 
ent condition of the State that many of the former large herds 
of cattle have in recent years been reduced, without, how- 
ever, materially reducing the total number of cattle in the 
State, while the number of small herds owned by ranchmen 
and farmers has largely increased, and it is doubtful if any 
other state can show an agricultural population whose finan- 
cial condition averages better than that of Wyoming's ranch- 
men. Many are here to testify to the benefits and profits de- 
rived by them from the use of the free pasture lands of the 



Yellowstone national park. 9 

open range, with its nutritious native grasses, the opportuni- 
ties of acquiring government land, cheap fuel and healthy 
climate, and the large area of the State in proportion to the 
present population is sufficient evidence that opportunities by 
which others have heretofore profited still offer to the pro- 
spective settler. 



YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 

THE WONDERLAND CF AMERICA. 



The Park was discovered by John Colter in 1807, but its 
final disclosure to the world was the work of three exploring 
parties in the years 1869, 1870 and 1871. It was finally re- 
served as a National Park, by Act of Congress, in 1872. It 
lies in the northwest corner of Wyoming; is sixty-two miles 
long by fifty-four miles wide. Its government and control is 
under the special authority of the Federal Government. 

The scenery of the Park is not equalled by anything in 
the world. It is too grand, its scope too immense, its details 
too varied and minute, to admit of even an attempt at its de- 
scription within these pages. For nearly every form, animate 
or inanimate, real or fancied, ever seen or conjectured by the 
imagination, may here be seen. Its colors and blended tints 
baffle the artist's brush, and language is inadequate for its 
portrayal. It is here in this vast solitude that one stands in 
silent awe and feels Nature's exalted, compelling theme thrill 
his heart, and hears the deep diapason of her mightiest and 
most mysterious anthem as it swells out into thunder tones 
or sinks into sweetest, softest melodies. Here, too, is found 
all in nature that is chastely beautiful, hidden away in some 
dim-lighted alcove or bower, while all about is the grim- 
visaged and towering strength of the silent mountain sen- 
tinel. The eye is never weary, for the scene is ever shifting, 
ever becoming more and more beautiful, grand, imposing and 
impressive. Here all is quiet, rest, beauty, sublimity. 

It is an ideal place for camping parties, traveling by pri- 
vate conveyance, and is accessible for such outing parties 
from Rawlins, on the Union Pacific Railroad, from Casper, 
the terminus of the F., E. and M. V. Railroad, and from 
Sheridan on the B. & M. Route. 

Placed as it is upon the very apex of the continent, its 
seasons are "July, August and Winter". In the summer, 
July and August, the long-imprisoned vegetation bursts into 
full life and beauty, and in this short period occur the changes 
which require months in lower altitudes. The average snow 
fall, from November to April, is ten feet. 

A very complete description of the Park and a full bibli- 



10 STATE OF WYOMING. 

ography of its literature can be found in a volume by Capt. 
H. M. Chittenden, U. 8. A., entitled "The Yellowstone Na- 
tional Park." 



ALBANY COUNTY. 



Albany County, while the smallest county in the State, 
is one of the most important in many respects. Its area em- 
braces 3,248,640 acres; of this 1,044,000 are listed for taxation, 
336,000 as railway grant lands, and 708,000 by individuals; 
total county valuation $3,941,635; total tax levy, including 
state levy, 19 mills; county bonded indebtedness, $142,000, 
bearing 6 per cent, interest. The Laramie Plains comprise 
about one-half of the area of the county, being in the central 
part; the Medicine Bow range of mountains being on the west 
of the Plains and the Black Hills range on the east and north, 
terminating at the historical landmark, Laramie Peak. The 
Plains proper are at an altitude of about 7,000 feet, while the 
Medicine Bow range rises to the region of perpetual snow. 

The Union Pacific Kailroad extends through the county, 
from east to west. 

Principal Town. Laramie, the county seat, population 
7,000, is situated at the crossing of the Big Laramie River, 
near the central portion of the Plains. Here is located the 
University of Wyoming. The Faculty is composed of educa- 
tors of eminent ability in their several branches; the School 
of Mines gives a thorough course in mineralogy and assay- 
ing; the Agricultural College Department runs an experimen- 
tal farm in connection with the institution, demonstrating 
that farming and the raising of nearly all of the agricultural 
products can be carried on profitably on the mountain plateaus 
at this altitude. The city is lighted by electricity, and has a 
fine system of free waterworks. Several saw-mills in the ad- 
jacent mountains supply native lumber for all purposes. 
Brick is made of good quality, and building stone of good 
color and excellent quality is found in abundance near the 
city. The University and Cathedral, two very fine struc- 
tures, are built of the native stone. 

The State Fish Hatchery, an institution of great value to 
the State in supplying and stocking the many different 
streams of the State with game fish, is located a short distance 
from the city on one of the mountain streams. 

Schools. The county has a fine public school system, 
the number of schools being fifty-five, and the number of 
children of school age 1,276. The high school at Laramie is 
the equal of many similar institutions in larger cities. 

Manufacturing. The Laramie Steel and Iron Company 



ALBANY COUNTY. 11 

is the largest manufacturing concern in the State, owning 
and operating a well equipped rolling mill and machine shop. 
This company gives constant employment to one hundred and 
fifty men, turning out a large tonnage of merchant iron and 
railway supplies. The Standard Cement Plaster Company 
has a fine plant and an unlimited supply of material from 
which to manufacture its product, which is shipped both east 
and west in large quantities. The Rocky Mountain Plaster 
Company at Red Buttes has a plant of large capacity and 
makes a fine grade of white finish from the gypsum beds in 
that vicinity. 

At Laramie is located a substantial glass manufacturing 
plant, with all the ingredients for the manufacture of glass 
in the immediate vicinity. The operation of the plant proved 
the superiority of the materials, but lack of capital has com- 
pelled the suspension of the enterprise for the time being. 
There is a grand opportunity here now for glass-making by 
men of experience and sufficient capital to operate the plant. 

The flouring mill erected before the panic of 1893 has been 
idle since that elate, but with the increased acreage of grain 
being planted this year, it is proposed to offer inducements to 
the right party to operate it in the future: 

The Haley Creamery is a flourishing institution. Its 
produce, which is large, finds a ready market and is an index 
of what may be done in that line. 

Live Stock. The principal industrial wealth of the 
county is in its grazing and live stock interests, cattle, sheep 
and horses leading in the order named. There were at the 
last general assessment 27,845 head of cattle, 61,189 sheep and 
7,491 horses, in all assessed at $629,544. 

Agriculture. Agriculture is being more extensively en- 
gaged in now than in years past. A large amount of wheat, 
oats and barley are produced annually and command a high- 
er price than in any other market. The oats, especially, are 
well filled and weigh from forty to forty-five pounds to the 
bushel. This valley offers a good inducement for an oatmeal 
mill on account of the superior quality of the native oats. 
Hay, the principal crop, is cut from native grasses, being ma- 
tured by irrigation. Large numbers of fat beeves are annu- 
ally shipped to market in the spring months, having had no 
other feed than the native hay, which possesses nutritive 
qualities of a high order. 

Mining. Mining for the precious metals has greater 
promise now of coming to the front and supplanting all other 
industries than it has had heretofore. The Medicine Bow 
range is strictly a mineral-bearing formation. Fine ore crop- 
pings are found distributed throughout its entire area. There 
are the Jelm Mountain, Keystone, Centennial, La Plata, Cop- 
per Hill, French Creek, and Three Mile districts, all of fine 
promise, it being difficult to distinguish which is best, as the 
ores are different in character. In some localities the gold 



12 STATE OF WYOMING. 

predominates, in others lead, silver or copper. Some high- 
grade ores have been shipped, enough to demonstrate that 
systematic development will in the future unearth fortunes. 
Every creek heading towards the Snowy Range contains 
placer gold. Douglas Creek, French Creek, Lake Creek, 
Muddy Creek and numerous others are known to be rich in 
the precious metal. Extensive preparations are now under 
way for working these creeks and tributaries with expensive 
hydraulic and dredging machinery, large amounts of capital 
having been invested in them. The Black Hills range is also 
extensively mineralized, showing quartz carrying gold, silver 
and copper. Near the head of the Sybille Canon the largest 
deposit of plumbago to be found in the United States is lo- 
cated, the quality from the surface being marketable, while 
some of the foliated varieties are very valuable. In this dis- 
trict there are some extensive ochre beds which only require 
a mill to produce an unlimited quantity of superior paint. 

Asbestos is found in the northern part of the county in 
large deposits. The quality from surface prospects is not the 
best, but is suitable for the manufacture of paint and many 
other uses. 

The natural soda deposits, twelve miles south of Laramie, 
are of very large extent, and the product has been utilized in 
glass-making, it being, when calcined, superior to the im- 
ported article. 

Climate. The climate during the summer months is per- 
fect, the nights being cool and the days not excessively hot; 
the winter months are dry and the cold is not severe. Live 
stock winter on the open plains without shelter. 

Streams. The county is well watered by many fine 
streams. The Big and Little Laramie rivers are the largest, 
but there are numerous smaller streams of clear spring water, 
suitable for domestic use and irrigation purposes. 

Fishing. Trout-fishing is the great summer sport. The 
streams have been stocked from the State Hatchery with all 
known kinds of the trout family. It is not uncommon to land 
trout weighing from six to eight pounds each. Resorts have 
been established on the rivers for the accommodation of sports- 
men and their families who want to spend a few days in the 
wilds of the mountains. Those who seek these pleasure re- 
sorts come from various portions of the United States, and 
the number is on the increase from year to year. 

Timber. On the Medicine Bow range, in the western 
part of the county, is found an abundance of spruce and pine 
timber of good quality and convenient to the local market. 




THREE OF WYOMING'S LAKES. 



BIG HORN COUNTY. 1 3 



BIG HORN COUNTY. 



Topography. Big Horn, the last organized county of the 
State, consists of that portion of the northwestern corner 
known as the "Big Horn Basin". This is, in many respects, 
one of the most remarkable basins situated on either side of 
the Great Continental Divide. This is true, whether we con- 
sider its great area, the lofty mountains enclosing it on all 
sides except the north, its equable climate or the fertility of 
its soils. On the east looms up the Big Horn range, some of 
its peaks rising 12,000 feet above sea level; on the west tower 
the equally high peaks of the Shoshone range, spurs of the 
Great Continental Divide; on the south is the Owl range, a 
spur of the Continental Divide connecting it with the south- 
ern end of the Big Horn range. The usual elevation of the 
divides connecting these peaks is from 9,000 to 11,000 feet 
above the sea level. Among these mountains are found some 
of the finest examples of mountain and canon scenery to be 
seen on this continent. 

Passing centrally through this basin in a northerly direc- 
tion, its meanderings covering more than one hundred miles, 
is the Big Horn River. Its entrance into the basin has been 
made in some past convulsion of nature through the Owl 
range, by an impassable canon of about four miles in length. 
Its exit from the basin to the north has been made by cut- 
ting through the northerly end of the Big Horn range by a 
very remarkable canon of about twenty miles in length, its 
walls rising almost vertically 1,200 to 1,500 feet above the 
water. Intermediate between these canons this river passes 
through Sheep Mountain, a secondary and detached range, 
!>y a canon of about three miles length, but equally as inter- 
esting as the other two. The Big Horn range west of its low- 
er canon is designated Pryor Mountain, which gradually re- 
cedes in height until it drops to the level of the plain border- 
ing Clark's Fork of the Yellowstone. Around the base of 
this mountain is the natural outlet from the Big Horn Basin. 
The northern boundary of Big Horn County is the Montana 
state line, which crosses the Lower Canon just alluded to 
about four miles north of its upper or southern end. 

Climate. The topography has thus been described so 
much in detail, because it is believed that its climatology is 
much influenced by its prominent features. The moisture 
that is deposited in this basin is transported from the Pacific 
Ocean on westerly and southwesterly winds moving, at times, 
at high velocity. In passing over the Continental Divide and 
the mass of mountains lying west of its inner rim (some thir- 
ty to forty miles in width), a large percentage of its -moisture 
in winter is deposited in snow. The residue is deposited 



14: STATE OF WYOMING. 

within its inner rim, but not to such a depth as to materially 
interfere with the grazing of stock. This is especially true of 
the western slope, as snow-falls, rarely exceeding six inches 
in depth, are generally followed by westerly winds that 
sweep the snow into the gulches. On the eastern slope there 
is not so much wind, and though the snow-fall is not believed 
to be greater, it lies for longer periods and to greater depth, 
much to the benefit of agricultural crops in summer. The 
records of one of the voluntary weather bureau stations (situ- 
ated at an elevation of about 6,500 feet) on the western 
slope, shows an average annual snow-fall for the past four 
years of forty-seven and one-half inches. Average annual 
precipitation for the same period, eleven and nine-tenths 
inches. The lowest temperature for the same period was 28 
degrees F. below zero; the highest temperature for the same 
period, 88 degrees F. above zero. In the low T er altitudes there 
are usually somewhat lower temperatures in winter, and an 
extreme temperature of 100 to 105 degrees in shade during the 
summer. By ascending from the lower to the higher altitudes, 
almost any climate can be obtained in summer. At an alti- 
tude of about 6,000 feet, the summer temperature is about the 
same as that of Lower California in winter, except it is much 
dryer and more bracing. During winter the air is so dry and 
exhilarating that the temperatures trying at lower altitudes 
are not noticeably cold. Indeed, there is so much sunshine 
in winter that except for a few exceptionally cold days, it is 
frequently the most pleasant season of the year. 

Area. The area of this county is about 10,000 square 
miles. As its topography indicates, the only practicable out- 
let at present for the trade of Big Horn County is to the north, 
into Montana, and to the Northern Pacific Railroad; either at 
Red Lodge, Montana, reached by good natural roads, within 
about one hundred miles from its center, or at Billings, Mon- 
tana, by equally as good natural roads, though farther in dis- 
tance. 

Agriculture and Stock Raising. It is within bounds 
to assert that every square mile of this area, except a small 
percentage forming the slopes of the high mountain peaks, 
can be utilized in summer or winter for agriculture or the 
grazing of stock, as proven by the experience of ten years 
with cattle, horses and sheep. The high mountain plateaus 
with their intervening valleys, up to an elevation of 10,500 
feet, in summer and until covered with snow in the fall, pro- 
duce grass of sufficient fattening properties for summer feed. 
At elevations from 7,500 to 10,500 feet, all stock keep fat for 
four months of the year. Below 7,500 elevation stock do well, 
summer and winter, with the rare exception of times of heavy 
snow-fall that are not followed by wind sufficient to bare 
the ground. 

Agriculture. Within the belt lying between 5,500 and 
6,500 feet elevation, with irrigation, timothy and red top do 




RED CHERRY CURRANT. Wyoming, 1897. 



BIG HORN COUNTY. 15 

exceptionally well; alfalfa produces two good cuttings. Be- 
low this belt, with ordinary good management, alfalfa will 
yield three good cuttings. Its seed comes to full maturity 
and is of good quality. All the small grains, such as wheat, 
barley and oats, give large yields, of excellent quality. It is 
believed that in no locality of the world are these grains of 
superior quality or in larger yields per acre. Statistics could 
be produced to sustain this claim did space permit. Indian 
corn, in a favorable season, produces well. All the roots, 
such as potatoes, carrots, rutabagas and beets of all kinds, 
thrive excellently well up to 6,500 feet elevation. It is not 
uncommon for beets and rutabagas, where well cultivated, to 
attain weights of ten to fifteen pounds and solid to the core. 
Of melons, the cantaloupe matures of excellent quality; so 
does the watermelon, though to less extent. On the advent 
of a railroad, it is believed there is no better location for a 
sugar-beet factory west of the Missouri, than at some central 
point in this county, and of paying capacity. The potato is 
a large yielder and of quality unsurpassed anywhere. Such 
garden vegetables as radishes, lettuce, cauliflower, beans and 
peas, do well at all altitudes. Radishes, lettuce and cauli- 
flower come to high perfection above 5,500 feet altitude and 
are of unsurpassed quality and flavor. 

Horticulture. All the small fruits, such as raspber- 
ries, currants, strawberries and gooseberries, grow wild, and 
tame varieties do well. 

Population— County Debt — Taxes. On account of the 
absence of any railway facilities heretofore (the nearest rail- 
way point being at least 100 miles from its center), the popu- 
lation of this county is not large to area, but is increasing. 
It has at present about 3,500 souls. 

The taxable wealth at this time is about $1, 100,000. The 
rate of taxation for 1898 was 18^ mills. The new county has a 
debt of $35,000, inherited as its proportion of the debts of 
Sheridan, Johnson and Fremont counties. 

Irrigation. In addition to the large volume of water 
delivered by the Big Horn River, running centrally through 
the county, its large and numerous tributaries furnish a 
great superabundance of water for irrigating large bodies 
of land that can be gotten under ditch. From the east 
flow Kirby, No Wood, and Shell creeks; from the west come 
Owl Creek and its much larger tributaries of Grey Bull and 
Wood River; then the two forks of the Stinkingwater River, 
and still farther to the north the Clark's Fork of the Yellow- 
stone. Only those portions of the irrigable lands that could 
be gotten under ditch at small cost have thus far been taken 
up. To such tracts add the quantity of land which can be 
gotten under the various ditches, contracted for or projected 
—according to the estimate of the State Engineer, Mr. Elwood 
Mead, amounting to over 100,000 acres — and there is a grand 
total of a half-million acres of as productive land, according 



16 STATE OF WYOMING. 

to his estimate, as is found within the arid belt. To irrigate 
these large bodies of valuable lands, ditches have either been 
contracted for, under the arid land law, or have been pro- 
jected. With these lands reclaimed, Big Horn County will 
be the richest agricultural county in this state. 

Minerals. In minerals the prospect is no less flattering. 
Beds of coal of good quality outcrop in many parts of the 
county. On the east side are immense masses of gypsum, 
which also outcrops on the west side near Cody. It is be- 
lieved that large masses of iron ore exist in a locality access- 
ible to a railroad when the railway system projected through 
the county is completed. In the rim of the mountains enclos- 
ing this basin, prospects indicate many valuable mines of 
gold and silver. On the head of the Grey Bull River the Gold 
Reef Mining Company are boring a tunnel (now about (300 
feet in length) towards a white lead of gold-bearing rock. On 
the head of Wood River are many leads of low-grade silver ore, 
and some gold-bearing rock. A well known Bald Mountain 
mine, on the west side, lies partly in this county. Further 
to the north the Sunlight mines are located, on the waters of 
the Clark's Fork. All these mines would become valuable 
properties were there adequate railway facilities. 

Stock. On account of its well-protected situation, the 
nutritious quality of its grasses and its freedom from cold 
blizzards, this basin has long been the home of large herds of 
cattle. 

In 1898 the assessment showed 21,056 head of cattle, 
9,013 hea.d of horses and 103,828 head of sheep. In addition 
to these, however, there are about 50,000 sheep from Montana 
and the counties south that have their summer range in the 
mountains and foothills on each side of the basin. Small 
herds of cattle are taking the place of the larger herds that 
have been closed out. 

Game and Fish. To the tourist and health-seeker, this 
basin presents many attractions. Mountain trout abound in 
all the streams near the mountains ; elk, deer and mountain 
sheep are fairly abundant. Then there are the famous 
Big Horn Hot Springs in the southern border of the county 
that are considered scarcely second to the famous Hot 
Springs of Arkansas, for a great variety of diseases and 
ailments. To those fond of mountain and canon scenery 
there will be found no greater attractions in the country. 
Besides the canons of the Big Horn before mentioned, there 
is the canon of Clark's Fork of the Yellowstone, that is not 
surpassed by the Black Canon of the Arkansas, or even in 
many respects by the Grand Canon of the Colorado. 



CARBON COUNTY. 17 

CARBON COUNTY. 



Carbon County has an area of 11,061 square miles, a pop- 
ulation of 10,000, is noted for its vast herds of sheep, its fine 
cattle, and above all, its rich coal and mineral deposits. Its 
county indebtedness is $144,000, and the rate of taxation 17.4 
mills. The total number of acres listed for taxation is 929,639, 
and the valuation of all real estate in the county, including 
town lots, is $1,270,012; the total value of assessable property 
in the county, $3,508,478. The Union Pacific Railroad runs 
across the county from east to west, giving 103.53 miles of 
railroad. 

Rawlins is on the Union Pacific Railroad, and is the 
county seat of Carbon County. Altitude, about 7,000 feet. 
It has a population of about 2,500; has roundhouses and ex- 
tensive machine shops. It is a distributing point for an out- 
lying country both north and south of the railroad. Daily 
and tri- weekly stages leave here for points north and south. 
The new State Penitentiary, costing $100,000, is located here, 
and also a substantial stone court house and a fine public 
school building, which cost, respectively, $50,000 and $35,000.- 
The city indebtedness is $35,000. Here are located and oper- 
ated fine building-stone quarries, the Rawlins sandstone be- 
ing shipped, both east and west, out of the State. Here also 
are located the great mineral red paint mines, (known as 
Rawlins Red), from which the paint for the Brooklyn Bridge 
was originally procured. This ore is shipped to Denver and 
much used by the smelters as flux. The city is also the sup- 
ply point for and the headquarters of a vast sheep and wool 
industry. 

Saratoga is situated on the North Platte River, twenty- 
eight miles south of Ft. Steele, in the center of a beautiful 
valley; population 500. Has a flouring mill, public library, 
two hotels, and a good representation of merchandising es- 
tablishments. Takes its name from the hot mineral springs 
of water found there, the waters of which possess wonderful 
curative properties. No one has ever tried them but has pro- 
nounced them to be, not merely "as good" as other medicinal 
hot springs, but the very best that they have ever known. 
This verdict comes from people who have used the far-famed 
waters of Hot Springs, Arkansas, as well as from every one 
who has had occasion to use the waters of any medicinal hot 
springs anywhere. 

It has a daily mail from Fort Steele, the nearest railroad 
point, and is the distributing mail point for the towns of En- 
campment, Collins, Bennett, Mead, French and Pearl, Color- 
ado, and is an outfitting point for the Grand Encampment 
mines. It will be connected by railroad with the Union Pa- 
cific at Fort Steele this vear. 



18 STATE OF WYOMING. 

Fort Steele is situated on the site of the old fort known 
as Fort Fred Steele, on the North Platte River, at the point 
where that stream is crossed by the Union Pacific Railroad. 
Has about 200 inhabitants, sheep-shearing pens and wool 
warehouses and is a great wool-shipping point. 

Encampment is a town of recent origin, brought forth by 
the prospects of the new gold and copper mines recently 
opened up in the Grand Encampment district. It is situated 
on the Grand Encampment River, twenty miles south of Sar- 
atoga. 

Medicine Bow. This town lies on the eastern boundary 
of the county, on the line of the Union Pacific Railroad, and 
contains about 200 inhabitants. 

Carbon and Hanna. These are coal-mining towns in the 
eastern part of the county on the Union Pacific Railroad. 
Each has 600 inhabitants, who are exclusively engaged in coal 
mining. 

Other towns of lesser note are Baggs, Dixon, Gilman and 
Battle, all situated in the extreme southern portion of the 
county. 

Schools. The county contains a good public school sys- 
tem. The number of schools is forty-one, and the number' of 
children of school age 1,292. 

Live Stock. One of the chief industries of the county is 
its live stock interests. Of sheep there were, for the year 
1898, 360,215, valued at $662,416 ; of cattle, 18,275, valued' at 
$292,409; of horses and mules 6,723, valued at $106,950. 

Agriculture. This industry has for many years been 
an important one continually on the increase, and has as- 
sumed large proportions in the Upper Platte Valley country 
and on the tributaries of the North Platte River. Wheat, 
oats and barley are raised in large quantities and command 
a ready price for home consumption. The wheat is a very 
fine, plump grain, making the very best of flour. The oats 
are of a superior quality and run from forty-five to fifty 
pounds to the bushel. All of these crops yield abundantly. 
Hay is an important crop, and the yield per acre is always 
satisfactory. Timothy and red top grow luxuriantly, but the 
native hay, of which there is a large quantity raised, is much 
in favor. Alfalfa or lucerne is a prime favorite, and there is 
a large acreage devoted to the production of that crop. It 
yields from three to four tons per acre, each year, of a very 
superior quality, much esteemed by all stockmen for its fat- 
producing qualities. All kinds of vegetables and small fruits 
grow abundantly, and the entire home market is supplied by 
home production. All farming is by irrigation. There are 
still many thousands of acres of upland, on either side of the 
Platte River, that are open to settlement, and this stream 
furnishes water for an almost unlimited acreage. 

The feeding of cattle and sheep for spring market is 
largely engaged in by the inhabitants of this county, who an- 





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CHARLES DOWNING STRAWBERRY. Wyoming, 1897— Natural Size. 



CARBON COUNTY. 19 

nually ship large numbers of sheep and fat beeves to eastern 
markets, commanding the highest market prices. 

MINING, 
GRAND ENCAMPMENT DISTRICT. 

Perhaps the most famous mining district throughout the 
United States at this time, is the Grand Encampment gold 
and copper region. This country lies immediately south and 
west of Saratoga and only twenty-five miles distant. For 
many years gold and copper float was found in that portion 
of the Continental Divide which is known as the Grand En- 
campment country, but not until the summer of 1896 were 
leads of any considerable value found. As soon as the dis- 
covery became public large numbers of people, business men, 
ranchmen, as well as miners and prospectors, poured into the 
country, to find the hills and mountain sides seamed with nu- 
merous leads, all yielding highly mineralized rock in which 
both gold and copper in paying quantities were found. From 
that time, development work has gone steadily forward with 
unwavering certainty, and the future of a large scope of 
country, now famous as the Grand Encampment mining dis- 
trict, is as certain as that of Cripple Creek, Colorado. There 
are now two shipping and dividend-paying mines, and before 
the end of 1899 there will be six or eight others. 

The Battle Lake country, which is included in the Grand 
Encampment district, has two very fine copper mines. One 
of these is the Rambler, from which copper ore has been 
shipped in small quantities for the past three years, and which 
is now steadily producing a large quantity. It has a vein of 
about four feet in thickness, the ore from which is fifty per 
cent, copper. The Haggerty, which was discovered in 1898, 
is a shipper of large quantities of seventy per cent, copper 
ore. There are at least ten or fifteen very large and equally 
valuable copper leads in this same neighborhood, all of which 
will be opened up this year. This camp will probably be, 
within a few years, the largest and richest copper camp in 
the world. In this district are also found large deposits of 
asbestos and mica. Some eight miles west of the Battle Lake 
region lies the Northern Bell, a gold mine, tapping the vein, 
which is ten feet thick, at a depth of 250 feet from the sur- 
face. Assays from this mine have run as high as $700. A 
ten-stamp mill is used to crush the ore, which is also treated 
by the cyanide process. 

Gold Hill, which lies to the east of Saratoga some twenty- 
five miles, also has many valuable leads, which are being 
systematically developed by eastern capitalists. 

The streams from both ranges of mountains that empty 
their waters into the North Platte River contain placer gold 
in paying quantities, and there are many locations of placer 
ground all over that region. 

The Seminoe district, in the extreme northern portion of 



20 STATE OF WYOMING. 

the county, has long been known to hold much precious met- 
al in the way of gold, but the ore has, up to this time, proved 
refractory and difficult to handle. Assays from the leads in 
that district show gold in paying quantities. 

There are many other promising districts in this county 
which will soon be developed and made to yield up their 
treasures. The principal ores found in quantity are : Gold, 
silver, lead, copper, iron volcanic ash, graphite, ochre, as- 
bestos, mica and soda. Building stone is abundant. 

Coal Mines. Another of the important products of the 
county is its coal, of which there are mines located at Car- 
bon, Hanna, Rawlins, Kindt and other points. The most 
productive mines are those located at Carbon and Hanna, 
which are operated by the Union Pacific Railroad Company. 
The total output of these mines for the year 1897 was 506,865 
tons. 

Climate. The climate of Carbon County is healthful, 
bracing and invigorating, mild and pleasant during the sum- 
mer months and not severely cold or uncomfortable in the 
winter. It is peculiarly suited to the building up of weak 
lungs and is conducive to health and longevity. 

Water and Timber. Carbon County is well watered by 
mountain streams, the North Platte River flowing the entire 
length of the county from south to north. Nearly every por- 
tion is abundantly supplied with water for irrigation pur- 
poses. The numerous mountain ranges in the county are 
covered with an excellent quantity of pine timber suitable 
for building purposes and for the manufacture of lumber, as 
well as for fuel. 

Game and Fish. Carbon County streams, while origin- 
ally barren of trout, have been well stocked with every vari- 
ety of that kind of fish, and are to day the finest trout streams 
tobe found anywhere. Trout weighing from ten to twelve 
pounds are frequently taken from the North Platte River, 
and every stream swarms with the finny tribe. Game of all 
kinds, including bear, elk and deer, are to be found in the 
mountain ranges and timber, sage hens and grouse inhabit 
the plains and mountains, and the streams and lakes are well 
supplied with ducks and geese. 



CONVERSE COUNTY. 



Converse County has a population approximating 4,000. 
It has an area of 7,000 square miles. The Norih Platte Riv- 
er, with its many tributaries, flows through the central por- 
tion of the county, affording a bountiful water supply for 



CONVERSE COUNTY. 21 

thousands of acres of land, which have been brought under 
cultivation, and its wide plains are among the best pasture 
lands of the State. The Fremont, Elkhorn & Missouri Val- 
ley Railroad traverses its entire length from east to west; 
and the Cheyenne & Northern Railroad gives an outlet to 
the south. The total assessed wealth of the county, in 1898, 
is given as $1,443,242, divided as follows: Land and improve- 
ments, $393,290; railroads and telegraph lines, $442,915; cattle, 
$317,573; horses, $72,339; sheep, $206,238. County bonded in- 
debtedness, $00,000; rate of taxation 23£ mills. 

Until a very late date the tract of country known as Con- 
verse County was given up to stock-growing. There are 
thousands of acres of land under cultivation to-day. Most of 
the cultivated acreage can be classed as bottom or low lands, 
bordering upon streams, although in the southeastern portion 
lands are producing good crops of corn, wheat and oats with- 
out irrigation. The principal crop in small grain is oats. 
With irrigation, oats have reached the enormous yield of 
eighty bushels to the acre, with a stool of six feet. Wheat 
will yield fifteen bushels on sod and twenty bushels on old 
ground. Rye and barley twenty bushels to the acre. Tame 
grasses — timber, clover and millet — reach a luxuriant growth. 
Alfalfa does well without irrigation, but, when placed under 
ditch, affords two and three full crops per year. Corn makes 
a good crop in the eastern end of the county. Vegetables, 
under irrigation and in the bottom lands adjacent to streams, 
attain a growth equal to California's famous products. Pota- 
toes yield several hundred bushels to the. acre. Pumpkins 
and squashes reach a weight of one hundred and even one 
hundred and sixty pounds; cabbage, twenty-three pounds; 
turnips, twelve to fifteen pounds, and other vegetables in like 
proportion. 

Converse County's chief mineral resources are coal, iron 
and copper. The finest coal found west of the Missouri River 
is in the Shawnee basin, fifty miles west of the Nebraska 
state line. Near Douglas is found a superior article of lig- 
nite, unsurpassed as a stove coal and a good steam fuel, but 
the vein is only two and one-half feet thick. At Inez, sixteen 
miles west of Douglas, the vein is seven feet thick, with a 
sandstone roof, and the coal has no superior as a stove or 
steam fuel. At Glenrock, twenty miles further west, the out- 
put of the mines nearly equals in point of quality those of 
Inez. The vein here is about six feet thick, with a sandstone 
roof. Coal "crops out" in greater or less veins in a hundred 
localities throughout the western portion of the county. Iron 
ore of a high per cent, abounds in western Converse County, 
and particularly in the northwestern portion. Assays of $08 
in gold and silver, $240 in "horn" silver, and forty to fifty 
per cent, in copper have been obtained from prospect holes 
all along the Laramie range in this county, and particularly 
from Spring Canon, some fifteen miles south of Douglas. 

3 



22 STATE OF WYOMING. 

Limestone is found in abundance and quarries of a superior 
quality of sandstone have been located. Marble equal to the 
best in "grain" and variety and beautiful color has been dis- 
covered in several localities, while gypsum, from which is 
made the plaster- of -paris of commerce, exists in inexhaustible 
quantities. Large deposits of mica, glass sand and potters' 
clay have also been located. 

Plenty of timber grows in the mountains and foothills, 
principally pine and spruce, and native lumber is supplied at 
reasonable prices. There is plenty of good land in the county 
subject to location, but it is being rapidly taken up. Lubri- 
cating oil is found in different portions of the county. Capi- 
tal is at present engaged in developing this industry. 

Douglas, the county seat, is located on the North Platte 
River and on the line of the Fremont, Elkhorn & Missouri 
Valley Railroad, and has a population of about 1,000. The 
town is quite prosperous, being the center of a large and grow- 
ing trade. The high prices received for cattle, sheep, wool 
and all farm products greatly add to its present prosperity. 
Its numerous business places, substantial dwellings, well- 
graded streets, sidewalks, waterworks and other improve- 
ments, attest the prosperity of the place. 

Other towns of importance are Glenrock, Lusk, Manville, 
the former a coal-mining town of about 900 population, and 
the two latter towns to which agricultural and stock-raising 
districts are tributary. 



CROOK COUNTY. 



Crook County is situated in the northeastern corner of the 
State. . It is one hundred and two miles long by sixty wide 
and has an area of 6,120 sq. miles. Lands assessed, 151,988 
acres ; total assessed value of all property, $1 , 540, 608 ; tax levy, 
22 mills; bonded indebtedness, $80,000; number of schools, 
forty-five; number of school children, 599; population esti- 
mated at 1,000. The county is traversed by the Grand Island 
& Northern Railroad. 

County Seat. The county seat and principal town is 
Sundance, with a population of about 500; situated at the foot 
of Sundance Mountain, on the banks of Sundance Creek, a 
beautiful mountain stream, and in the center of a fertile dis- 
trict. The city owns its system of waterworks, substantial 
city hall, fire apparatus, etc. Merchandising in all its 
branches, banking and commercial interests are well repre- 
sented. The municipal bonded indebtedness is $15,000, at 6 
per cent, interest. 

Altitude and Climate, The altitude of Crook County 




DWARF ROCKY MOUNTAIN CHERRIES, WYOMING. 



CROOK COUNTY. 23 

averages about 4,000 feet above sea level, and the air is dry, 
bracing and healthful, with a mean annual temperature of 
41.1 degrees. The yearly precipitation averages twenty-four 
inches, and agricultural products are grown throughout this 
county without irrigation. 

Schools. Throughout the county are good schools in 
each locality where the population justifies their establish- 
ment, there being in all forty-five, each one presided over by 
a competent instructor. 

Agriculture. Agricultural pursuits claim the attention 
of many of the citizens of the county, and wheat, oats, rye, 
corn and every variety of garden vegetables are raised with 
profit, in many instances both the yield and the quality of the 
product being worthy of particular mention. Wild fruits of 
the smaller varieties are especially abundant, and consider- 
able progress has already been made in the cultivation of the 
tame varieties. The soil throughout the county is a dark, 
rich loam of great fertility, and the fact that crops can be 
raised without irrigation facilitates agricultural pursuits. 

Live Stock. In connection with agricultural pursuits, 
all kinds of live stock are raised extensively. The present 
return for assessment shows 37,464 neat cattle, 8,753 horses 
and (3,002 sheep, with a total valuation of $(jl6,378. 

Mining. Gold, silver, tin, copper, lead and manganese 
have been found in considerable quantities, and extensive 
coal fields of a good quality of semi-bituminous coal are being 
developed. Much of the future wealth of Crook County will 
undoubtedly come from the development of the coal fields of 
that locality. Quite extensive gold placer mining operations 
have been conducted on Sand Creek and vicinity, with profit 
to the operators. Granite, porphyry, limestone and other 
building stones are found in great variety and abundance. 
A railroad has been built from Belle Fourche, South Dakota, 
to the Aladdin coal mines near Bennett, Wyoming, a distance 
of eighteen miles. 

Streams and Topography. The county is traversed by 
numerous streams, among the number being the Belle 
Fourche, the Little Missouri and Little Powder rivers. The 
water of the streams generally is pure and suitable to domes- 
tic uses. Along these numerous streams are fertile valleys of 
fine farming lands, and between the streams are found exten- 
sive plateaus suitable for grazing. Low ranges of mountains, 
well timbered, traverse the county, adding to the attractive- 
ness of the landscape. 

Timber. The timber found on these mountain ranges is 
a heavy growth of spruce and pine. Oak, ash and cotton- 
wood trees also abound. 

Fishing. A branch of the State Fish Hatchery is located 
in Crook County, not far from .Sundance, and many of the 
streams of the county furnish excellent sport to those who 
enjoy the pursuit of game fish. 



24 STATE OF WYOMING. 

Natural Curiosities. A remarkable formation known 
as the Devil's Tower, a solid basaltic column rising abruptly 
to a height of 1,300 feet, and making a landmark that can be 
seen for miles in every direction, is a notable feature of the 
topography of this county. 



FREMONT COUNTY. 



Fremont is the west central county of the State, and has 
an average width, north and south, of one hundred miles, and 
a length, east and west, of one hundred and twenty-five miles. 

The county indebtedness is $38,000 (bonded), the rate of 
taxation for 181)8 being 19J mills. The number of acres of 
land taxed in the same year was 38,818, while the valuation 
of all real estate, including town lots, was $531,448, and the 
total value of all assessable property in the county, $1,242,601. 

There are no railroads in the county, but it is reached by 
daily stage from Casper on the Fremont, Elkhorn & Missouri 
Valley, and Rawlins, on the Union Pacific Railroad. 

The county is famous for its rich agricultural lands and 
its abundance of water for irrigation. It is also noted for its 
fine apple orchards and abundance of small fruits. The wool 
clip of the county for 1897 was 1,600,000 pounds. There are 
many small cattle ranches in the county, which have been 
operated successfully for many years. Wheat is grown in 
the Lander valley, and it has been a profitable crop annually 
for the last fifteen years. There are three improved flouring 
mills in the county, one located in Lander, another at Milforcl 
and the third at the Shoshone Agency. All these mills turn 
out high patent process flour, and the product is equal to the 
best anywhere. Oats and other small grains are successfully 
grown. Potatoes and all kinds of garden vegetables grow to 
perfection. Alfalfa and timothy yield abundantly, and native 
hay grasses abound everywhere. 

Lander, the county seat, is centrally situated, and is sur- 
rounded by hundreds of improved farms. The court house is 
a fine, large brrck structure. The public school building is of 
brick and contains nine large rooms. The school is graded, 
and the graduates of the High School are admitted to the 
State University. Three religious societies have church edi- 
fices, namely, Methodist, Episcopal and Catholic. 

There is an abundance of timber for building purposes 
and saw-mills to cut up the lumber. A fine quality of coal is 
found in inexhaustible quantities all along the valley, which 
provides a cheap fuel for domestic and steam purposes. 
There are a number of oil springs in the county, and ten miles 



FREMONT COUNTY. 25 

south of Lander are three flowing oil wells, with a capacity 
of two hundred barrels per day each. These wells are 
plugged at present, awaiting the advent of a railroad. White 
and red sandstone, for building purposes, is found in every 
part of the county. Sight miles west of Lander there is a 
deposit of grey marble, and near it an abundant supply of 
granite. Both of these are susceptible of a beautiful polish. 

The streams of Fremont County are numerous and of a 
lasting chara \ Big Horn, Wind River, Little Wind and 
the numerous branches of the Popo Agie are the fountain 
heads of the Missouri River. They take their rise in the 
Wind River range, whose mountains are among the loftiest 
of the Continental Divide. 

Fish abound in all the streams of this section, and trout 
fishing is the pastime of many. There is an abundance of 
elk, deer and antelope and a number of varieties of bear in 
the Wind River range and Owl Creek mountains, which ex- 
tend nearly the whole length of the county. 

Southern Fremont County has numerous gold deposits, 
both in place and quartz. From 18(38 to 1873, the mines 
around South Pass yielded more than $7,000,000. Since that 
time there has been a steady output, but the mining districts 
being remote from the railroad, the work has been carried on 
under many disadvantages, and the amount of gold taken 
out has consequently been comparatively small. The min- 
eralized district covers a territory of twenty-five by fifty-five 
miles. Within the last two or three years men with large 
means have become interested in the mines, and these feel 
confident that the outcome will be satisfactory. 

There is a large amount of Government land in the 
county, suitable for stock ranches and farms. Near Lander 
are 12,000 acres which can be entered as homesteads or desert 
claims, and irrigating ditches can be constructed so as to wa- 
ter these lands at comparatively small expense. These are 
desirable locations because of their nearness to market, good 
schools and churches. 

The celebrated Thermopolis Hot Springs described in the 
article on climate are on the northern boundary of this county. 

OPENING INDIAN LANDS TO HOMESTEADERS. 

The Shoshone, or Wind River, Indian Reservation of 
Wyoming will soon be a matter of history, and in the con- 
stantly advancing movement of civilization, a large portion 
of its rich area of irrigable land will shortly be open to set- 
tlement by the home-seeker and home-maker of the dominat- 
ing race. 

The Reservation contains 2,800,000 acres of land in a body 
nearly seventy miles square along the valleys of Wind, Big 
Horn and Popo Agie rivers and their tributaries in Fremont 
County. The Reservation was established in 1868, by a 



20 STATE OF WYOMING. 

treaty made at Fort Bridger with the Shoshone and Bannock 
Indians. In 1872 the Shoshones and Bannocks quarrelled, 
and the latter tribe was allowed to depart and select what is 
known as the Fort Hall Reservation, in Idaho. The place of 
the Bannocks was taken by the Arapahoes. They also quar- 
relled with the Shoshones and were removed to the Pine 
Ridge Agency, where they remained until 1878. They were 
then again sent to the Wind River Reservation and given 
the southeastern portion of it, where they have since re- 
mained. The two tribes remain separate. They rarely inter- 
marry. Up to 1878 they were at war with each other, and 
since that time, while apparently friendly, strained relations 
between them have existed. 

For many years after the establishment of the Reserva- 
tion the condition of both the Shoshones and Arapahoes was 
deplorable. They lived in idleness, discouraged all efforts to 
educate the children, were often in want of sufficient food, 
and were stated by the census report of 1890 to be "as poor as 
they can be and live. 1 ' 

A material change for the better commenced about seven 
years ago when the agency was placed in charge of an officer 
of the United States Army, and the condition of the Indians 
has been improving ever since. The Indians were induced 
to take lands in severalty, build irrigation ditches, cultivate 
their land, give up their tepees and build houses, and discard 
the blanket. A market for all the products of their farms 
over what they required for their own use was provided by 
the Government's buying from them hay and grain for use 
at the military post of Fort Washakie, and in many other 
practical ways they were gradually brought into the encourag- 
ing state which now exists. During the past two years the 
two tribes have supplied the entire wood contract for Fort 
Washakie and the school and agency, consisting of two thou- 
sand cords per year. They have filled the hay contracts, and 
have supplied the post and agency with oats, wheat and pota- 
toes. Many of them have been employed as teamsters, wood 
cutters, farmers and laborers and have worked industriously 
and satisfactorily. Educational improvement has kept pace 
with the material advancement. New school buildings were 
erected in 1893 on what is called "neutral ground", that is, 
upon school sections, lying between the lands of the Sho- 
shones and Arapahoes. Both tribes send a fair proportion of 
their children to school. The enrollment is about 200, divided 
almost equally between the two tribes. The school is an in- 
dustrial institution. The boys till the farm, do carpenter 
work, publish a newspaper and work at various trades. The 
girls are employed in housew T ork, aud learn sew T ing, cooking 
and other useful household arts. 

So nearly do the Indians approach a condition of self- 
support that but little fear is entertained by the Indian Bu- 
reau of their capacity to live in comparative comfort after 



JOHNSON COUNTY. 27 

their annuities cease, which in the case of the Arapahoes will 
be after the present year. The annuities of the Shoshones 
ceased with last year's payment. 

The allotments in severalty to both the Shoshones and 
Arapahoes have been almost completed. When all shall have 
received their allotments they will own but 136,000 acres of 
the Reservation, and upwards of two and one-half millions of 
acres will remain for settlement. The details of opening- the 
Reservation fc ettlement will be completed by the officers 
of the Interior Department as soon as the allotments shall 
have been all made and accepted. 

The greater portion of the lands which will be opened for 
settlement is suitable only for grazing purposes. These lands 
comprise the northern portion of the Reservation, including 
the Owl Creek mountain range and an extensive area of "bad 
lands" extending from the South Fork of Owl Creek, which 
forms tile northern boundary of the Reservation, to the val- 
ley of the Big Wind River. The valleys of the Big Wind 
River, the Little Wind River, the Popo Agie River and many 
of their tributaries contain some of the finest farming land in 
the State. The water supply is ample to irrigate nearly all 
of the land susceptible of cultivation, and eventually the Res- 
ervation will become the garden spot of Wyoming. 



JOHNSON COUNTY. 



Johnson County has an area of 4,046 square miles. The 
total assessed valuation of the county in 1898 was $1,152,983, 
divided as follows: Land and improvements, $466,813; cat- 
tle, 9349,779; horses, $73,106; sheep, $139,119. County bonded 
indebtedness, $67,000; tax levy, 21^ mills. The population of 
the county is almost 3,000. Johnson County, with its rolling 
plains, extensive forests and fertile valleys, is justly regarded 
as one of the best sections of the State. The Big Horn Moun- 
tains have an elevation of 14,000 feet, while many of the val- 
leys are less than 5,000 feet above the sea level. The re- 
sources of the county are varied. Stock-raising is the chief 
industry. The vast open range and abundant streams of pure 
water make it a paradise for cattle. There are thousands of 
acres of grazing lands, and sufficient land can be irrigated to 
produce enough hay, grain and alfalfa to make winter feed 
for all the live stock that the range will support in summer. 
The county is one of the best w r atered counties in Wyoming, 
lifting well supplied with small streams heading in the Big 
Horn Mountains, and flowing generally to the northeast and 
the northwest. Agriculture has become a leading industry, 
and only awaits increased railroad facilities to greatly in- 



28 STATE OF WYOMING, 

crease the productions of the county. All kinds of vegetables 
are successfully raised; cabbage, turnips, rutabagas, lettuce, 
parsnips, cauliflower, beets, carrots, celery, broom corn and 
sorghum cane are all grown with success, while melons and 
small fruits of unequalled flavor and excellence are cultivated. 
Yield of oats per acre is forty-five bushels and upwards; po- 
tatoes average 200 bushels, and other crops in proportion. 

There is a large supply of pine timber taken from the 
mountains, which is well suited for building purposes. Along 
the streams are thrifty groves of cotton wood, and experiments 
have shown that timber of various kinds can be as success- 
fully grown here as in the prairie states of Kansas and Ne- 
braska. Minerals are yet undeveloped, but valuable pros- 
pects in gold, silver and copper are found in the Big Horn 
Mountains. Coal of superior quality is mined in various lo- 
calities. 

Buffalo, the county seat, has always been a prosperous 
town, and, at the present time, has a population of about 
1,200. It is the business center of a fine grazing and agricul- 
tural district, and has superior natural advantages. 

Clear Creek could furnish water-power for a hundred fac- 
tories, besides irrigating several hundred thousand acres of 
land. At the present time, Buffalo is thirty-two miles from 
the Burlington & Missouri Railroad, but at no distant day, 
expects to have a railroad connection. Its citizens have been 
very enterprising in building up the town, having erected a 
$10,000 court house, a $15,000 school building, and numerous 
brick buildings. The city also maintains an electric light 
plant, flouring mill, water works, and two newspapers. Two 
stage lines are operated, one leaving daily for Sheridan and 
the other for Clearmont on the line of the railroad. 



LARAMIE COUNTY. 



Laramie County is located in the southeastern portion of 
Wyoming, and comprises an area of 7,000 square miles. It 
ranks first in population and wealth, and was one of the 
original four counties of the Territory of Wyoming. The 
rolling plains along the eastern slope of the Black Hills range, 
varying in altitude from 4,000 to 8,000 feet, are its natural 
features. These plains are peculiarly adapted to grazing. 
In all parts of the county are found numerous streams. The 
total acreage of the county is 4,520,180, of which 3,000,000 
acres are fine grazing land and 1,000,000 acres are susceptible 
of being made rich agricultural lands. 



LARAMIE COUNTY. 29 

It is full of undeveloped resources; has iron, coal, copper, 
gold and silver, sandstone, marble, granite, mineral paint 
and mica. The land is generally free from stones and other 
obstructions and is easily broken and cultivated. In excep- 
tional seasons the natural rainfall is sufficient to produce a 
growth of grain and vegetables, but irrigation ditches and a 
reliable supply of water are necessary to insure the success of 
farming operations. 

The county indebtedness is $400,000 and the rate of taxa- 
tion 15f mills. The total number of acres of land listed for 
taxation is 996,195; and the value of all real estate in the 
county, including town lots, is $2,772,041; total value of all 
assessable property in the county, $5,595,281. 

Laramie County has passed from a purely pastoral con- 
dition to one of mixed husbandry. Stock-raising, farming, 
dairying and gardening are practiced in varying degrees. 
The average temperature is about 60 degrees F. ; the rainfall, 
fourteen inches. All field crops common to the west succeed 
well. 

The development through irrigation has not been confined 
to any particular locality. The soil is exceedingly fertile, the 
water reliable and the altitude sufficiently low to warrant the 
planting of any of the ordinary field crops. The creeks are 
lined, therefore, with the farms of ranchmen, who, combin- 
ing farming and stock-raising, are prosperous. 

Wheatland Colony. The Wheatland Colony is located 
in the center of one of the finest agricultural sections to be 
found in the west, and what can be accomplished under an 
irrigation system may best be seen here. The average eleva- 
tion of the lands is 4,700 feet, and the water for irrigating 
purposes, of which there is an ample supply, is obtained from 
the Laramie and Sybille rivers. 

The purpose of the Wyoming Development Company was 
to make it possible to locate a large body of agriculturists 
near Cheyenne. A half-dozen public-spirited men, some 
years ago, caused a thorough investigation to be made. They 
found the section of country which they afterwards selected 
for the location of the works to be one of the best locations 
for a successful agricultural settlement. Every examination 
of the completed works, made by experts and others, has 
brought the highest commendation of the system. 

There are three large canals of a total length of forty-four 
miles, having a capacity equal to the irrigation of 60,000 acres 
of land. It is proposed to extend the system so as to water 
120,000 acres. Over $500,000 was expended in the original 
construction of these wo7*ks. The soil is a rich, sandy loam, 
and when irrigated is well adapted for raising wheat, barley, 
oats, rye, potatoes, turnips, flax, beets, certain varieties of 
corn, etc., without further fertilization than comes from the 
application of water for irrigation. 

One of the crops which promise to bring money to the 



30 STATE OF WYOMING. 

Wheatland farmer is the sugar beet. Wheatland beets, ac- 
cording to the official reports of the Government chemist, 
showed twenty-two per cent, of saccharine matter. 

The town of Wheatland is located on the Colorado & 
Southern Railroad, about ninety miles north of Cheyenne. It 
is beautifully located, beneath the shadow of Laramie Peak, 
and is a prosperous community. It is most advantageously sit- 
uated for the growth of a large city. There are at present 150 
comfortable houses in the town, a flour mill, elevator, several 
stores and a good hotel. The roller mill, completed at a cost 
of $25,000, has a capacity of 150 barrels of flour per day, and 
during the busy season is operated both night and day. 

Count y Seat. The city of Cheyenne is the county seat 
of Laramie County and has a population of 10,000. Owing to 
the rapid advancement of Che}^enne after the settlement in 
1867, it gained the title of "The Magic City", and has always 
been noted for the wealth and enterprise of its citizens. The 
city was designated as the capital when Wyoming Territory 
was organized in 1869. 

It is 516 miles west of Omaha, on the line of the Union 
Pacific; is also the junction point of the Colorado & Southern 
and the terminus of the Cheyenne & Burlington, a branch of 
the Burlington & Missouri River railroad system. 

Cheyenne has an extensive system of waterworks, the 
latest and most approved sewerage system, fire department 
and fire alarm system, telephone exchange, arc and incandes- 
cent electric-lighted streets, besides gas for general use ; has 
a $50,000 opera house, $30,000 club house, fine business blocks, 
elegant private residences, two banks, eleven churches, two 
daily newspapers, and State Capitol costing $300,000. Among 
the other institutions are five public school buildings, built at 
an average cost of $30,000; a convent school, erected at a cost 
of over $50,000; a county hospital; a county court house and 
a jail; a State Soldiers' and Sailors' Home, and extensive 
railroad shops, employing 500 men. The city is the supply 
point for an immense stock-raising and agricultural country, 
and its citizens are among the largest live stock owners in 
the State. 

Fort Russell, three miles from the city, is the largest and 
most important military post in the Department of the Platte. 

There are several manufacturing establishments in the 
city, and the volume of business transacted annually amounts 
to many thousand dollars. 

Strangers view with delight the miles of smooth stone 
flagging and cement sidewalks that line almost every street 
of Cheyenne. The beauty of many of the streets and avenues 
is greatly enhanced by the bright green turf on either side of 
the walk, which, together with long lines of trees, form an 
agreeable feature of the city's landscape. Nowhere can be 
found more delightful drives. Nature has provided roads 
equal to the smooth gravel roads of Central Park, New York. 




' '- 1 



NATRONA COUNTY. 31 

The people of Cheyenne have made it one of the most at- 
tractive places in which to live in America. 

Cheyenne has the promise of another splendid edifice in 
the new United States building now being erected at a cost 
of $500,000. 

One of the greatest attractions of the city is its pure and 
healthful climate. Its air is an invigorating tonic, cool in the 
summer, mild in winter. No better summer climate can be 
found in our land. 

Hartville, the iron camp, is situated about one hundred 
miles north of Cheyenne. The output, about 150 tons per day, 
is shipped to Denver. A branch railroad is to be built from 
Badger to Hartville in the near future, and a company, re- 
cently incorporated, proposes to build a branch of the Bur- 
lington & Missouri Railroad from Alliance, Nebraska, through 
this district. 



NATRONA COUNTY, 



This county derives its name from the natural deposits of 
natron, or carbonate of soda, found in the numerous basins or 
lakes that abound in this section of Wyoming. Located in 
almost the geographical center of the State, it covers an area 
of about seventy miles square. The Platte River, with its 
numerous tributaries, traversing its entire length a distance 
of seventy-five miles from east to west, furnishes an abund- 
ant water supply for irrigation, and as the mean elevation is 
5,500 feet, the farmers of the county raise all the hardy grains, 
vegetables and fruit common to the northwestern states. 

At the present time the live stock interest leads all other 
industries in this county. The Fremont, Elkhorn & Missouri 
Railroad, a branch of the great Northwestern system, affords 
an outlet to eastern markets. The assessed wealth of Na- 
trona County in 181)8 was $1,161,308, and is divided as follows: 
Sheep, $478,881; cattle, $151,729; horses, $37,201; lands and 
improvements, $303,888; railroad property, $53,856; merchan- 
dise and manufacturing, $53,089; all other property $80,664. 
The county indebtedness is $22,000, and the rate of taxation 
for the year 1898 was 19^ mills. 

It will be observed that the raising of sheep overshadows 
all other industries. The fleece of a Natrona County sheep 
will average ten pounds, and the total wool clip for 1898 ap- 
proximates 4,000,000 pounds. 

But it is the undeveloped resources of Natrona County 
that offer the greatest inducement for the investment of cap- 
ital. Already the oil industry has reached an important stage 
of development. The oil district, which covers an area of 



32 STATE OF WYOMING. 

2,000 square miles, has beeD largely prospected, and numerous 
wells have been drilled which yield an unlimited supply of 
natural oils. About 700,000 acres of oil lands have been lo- 
cated in Natrona County. The oil is lubricant in character, 
and is said by experts to be the best in the world. The prin- 
cipal basin is on Salt Creek. Wells have also been drilled on 
the South Fork of Powder River, in the Rattlesnake district, 
and on Casper Creek. In every district the flu est of lubricat- 
ing oil has been found. 

The first oil well sunk was in 1881, on Poison Spider 
Creek, by a Denver company. Wells were also sunk in the 
Rattlesnake district. But the principal wells are located on 
Salt Creek, a distance of fifty miles from Casper. At Casper 
the Pennsylvania Oil and Gas Company have erected a refin- 
ery, which has a daily capacity of 200 barrels of crude oil. 
The product is hauled from the wells in wagons that have a 
carrying capacity of 18,000 pounds, each train of wagons re- 
quiring twelve to sixteen mules. This greatly adds to the ex- 
pense of production. At present the following oils are man- 
ufactured at Casper: Railroad engine, railroad car, railroad 
valve and railroad signal. These oils are the most perfect 
lubricants, of high endurance, highest fire tests, and greatest 
body and wearing power. Besides railroad oils, the refinery 
manufactures other special high-grade oils, viz : Stationary 
engine, valve, spindle oils, dynamo oils, neutral oils for blend- 
ing animal and vegetable oils, paint oil, visco axle grease, 
and heavy machine oil for mowing machines. The product 
of eight producing wells varies in value from twenty cents to 
one dollar and fifty cents per gallon. 

Steam coal exists in Natrona County. Lignite coal, 
varying from a few inches to several feet in thickness, is 
found in various parts of the county. The inexhaustible de- 
posits of sulphate and carbonate of soda, which are formed 
from natural springs, will some day be the basis of a great 
and profitable industry, and only await the magic touch of 
capital and skill to develop their greatest possibilities. 

Among the natural wonders of Natrona County are the 
Alcova Hot Springs, which possess medicinal virtues for the 
treatment of rheumatism and kindred diseases. These 
springs are located in the mountains and are surrounded with 
beautiful scenery. Considerable development has been made 
in the mining of precious metals. Deposits of gold and silver 
ore are found in the mountains. Low-grade ores, which assay 
from five to ten dollars a ton, are abundant, and in time can 
be profitably mined. Coal, iron, copper and valuable build- 
ing stone are found in various localities. The best developed 
copper claims in Casper Mountain assay from thirty-seven to 
forty per cent, copper. Asbestos is also found in paying 
quantities. 

Casper, the county seat of Natrona County, is a thriving 
town of about 1,200 inhabitants. It is the western terminus 



SHERIDAN COUNTY. 33 

of the Fremont, Elkhorn & Missouri Valley Railroad, which 
gives it a large and important freighting business and trade 
with the country west of Casper, including the prosperous 
counties of Fremont and Big Horn. 

Its fine business blocks, churches and school houses at- 
test the liberality of the people. Among the recent improve- 
ments are fine waterworks and steam plant for shearing sheep. 



SHERIDAN COUNTY, 



Sheridan County is situated in the central part of north- 
ern Wyoming. . It is ninety miles east and west, and thirty 
miles north and south, containing 2,700 square miles. This 
area is divided as follows: 378,000 acres mountainous; 350,000 
acres irrigated or capable of irrigation; 1,000,000 acres graz- 
ing lands. There are approximately 200,000 acres under cul- 
tivation at present. 

The principal products of the county are cattle, hay, oats, 
wheat, potatoes and coal. Farming, in connection with 
stock-raising, is the chief occupation of the people, being by 
far the best paying business. 

The assessed wealth of Sheridan County in 1898 was 
$1,917,953, divided as follows: Sheep, $8,651 ; cattle, $422,439: 
horses, $93,451; lands and improvements, $837,697; other 
property, $231,698; railroad property, $324,017. The county 
indebtedness is $32,000, and the rate of taxation for the year 
1898 was 22-1- mills. 

The annual output of coal is 90,000 tons, the greater part 
of which is shipped to the Black Hills and points in Nebraska. 
Of wheat, 200,000 bushels are raised each year, the acreage 
being on the increase, but by far the largest acreage in crops 
is given to the raising of hay, principally alfalfa. This is the 
case where the business is that of stock-raising. It is nota- 
ble, however, that as farmers come into this country from 
eastern states, the farm is made to produce greater profit in 
the raising of grain, potatoes and small fruits. 

The mountainous part of Sheridan County shows pros- 
pects rich in copper, and good samples of gold, silver, nickel 
and other minerals are found. This part of the county con- 
tains a large number of natural basins for the storage of 
water, which insures a vast development at no distant time 
in the production of crops requiring late irrigation. The 
building of reservoirs for the storage of water has hardly 
begun, but considerable interest is being taken in this direc- 
tion, and some work has already been contracted for. 

With abundance of water, the prospects in the mountains 
being developed into mines, the whole country underlaid 



34 STATE OF WYOMING. 

with coal, Sheridan County combines the resources essential 
as a foundation upon which to make a rapid and permanent 
development on a sound basis. 

One of the pleasing features is the excellent trout-fishing 
to be found in all of the twenty-two streams flowing from the 
Big Horn Mountains. These streams were found in early 
days to be the natural home of the Rocky Mountain trout. 
Of late years most of the streams have been stocked with the 
eastern brook trout. 

The Big Horn Mountains afford the finest places for sum- 
mer camping. Summer resorts have been erected at some of 
the lakes in the mountains, where the fishing is the best, and 
here one can walk over great drifts of snow, which never en- 
tirely disappear. 

The Burlington & Missouri River Railroad has a line tra- 
versing the entire length of the county, and has projected 
lines in other directions. There are ten churches, a college, 
numerous excellent schools, three flouring mills, brick yards, 
a brewery, and a number of small manufacturing concerns. 

At Sheridan, the county seat, an excellent electric light 
plant is in operation, and a system of telephone exchanges 
exists, connecting w T ith the smaller towns in the vicinity. 

There is practically no waste land in the county. The 
mountain section is partly covered with pine timber, furnish- 
ing an abundant supply of building material, besides large 
areas of good grazing land for summer pasture. Of the mil- 
lion acres of grazing lands in the rolling country east of the 
mountains, 200,000 have been leased to the settlers. The 
principle governing the allotment of these grazing lands by 
the State has been to allow each settler the sole right to lease 
the land adjacent to his farm. The hills between the valleys 
and upper bench lands are covered with a thick growth of 
nutritious grasses, which produce the best range stock in this 
country. 

Opportunities for securing good homes and a prosperous 
business are abundant, where the climate is all that can be 
desired, and the cost of living is reduced to a minimum. 



SWEETWATER COUNTY. 



The chief industries are coal-mining and stock-raising. 

In the year 1898, the total assessed value of property in 
the county was $3,750,118, divided as follows: Railroad prop- 
erty, $1,447,769; lands and improvements, $1,332,344; cattle, 
$25,670; horses, $27,031; sheep, $564,397. The total bonded 
indebtedness is $93,000, the rate of taxation 18 mills. 




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SWEETWATER COUNTY. 65 

Green River, the county seat, is located on Green River, 
at the crossing of the Union Pacific Railroad. The town is 
maintained by the trade derived from the settlements above 
and below along the river, and the railroad shops. It is well 
lighted by electricity; has a good water system, and the mu- 
nicipal government is supported without taxation other than 
license taxes. A saw-mill, a steam sheep shearing plant, and 
the plant of the Green River Fuel and Oil Company, are 
among the notable business features of this place. Here too 
a remarkably pure quality of crude soda has been found, 
which is practically purer than the sal soda of commerce, and 
the cheapness with which it can be produced offers a great 
inducement for the investment of capital. 

Rock Springs. Eighteen miles distant, on the line of the 
Union Pacific, is located the town of Rock Springs, where are 
operated the largest coal mines in the State. It has a popu- 
lation of 4,500, composed very largely of miners, and is one 
of the most active business points in Wyoming. It is well 
built, having fine business blocks, a water system, electric 
light plant and a magnificent city hall. At this point is lo- 
cated the Wyoming General Hospital, maintained by the 
State. 

Industries. The county is well suited to sh,eep-raising, 
and many citizens are so engaged. The broken and diversi- 
fied character of the country, covered as it is with white sage 
and nutritious grasses, furnishes just the conditions con- 
ducive to the successful management of that class of live 
stock. 

Probably the entire county is underlaid with veins of 
coal, which, however, have been more extensively developed 
at Rock Springs than elsewhere, and the term Rock Springs 
coal is synonymous throughout the west with coal of excep- 
tional quality. The output is 1,500,000 tons per annum. The 
Union Pacific Coal Company is the largest operator, al- 
though there are others located at or near Rock Springs. 
This company owns nine mines. In addition to obtaining a 
full supply of fuel for the Union Pacific Railroad, the com- 
pany sells thousands of car-loads throughout Wyoming and 
adjacent states. 

Timber. On the mountains along Green River, extend- 
ing into Fremont and Uinta counties, are found large areas 
of heavily timbered lands, from which there is cut annually 
a large amount of pine timber of good quality. 



36 STATE OP WYOMING. 



UINTA COUNTY. 



This county lies in the extreme western portion of the 
State and extends from the northern border of Utah to the 
southern boundary of the Yellowstone National Park. It 
covers over 15,000 square miles, and much of this vast area is 
unentered Government land. The Union Pacific Railroad 
crosses the county in its southern portion, and the Oregon 
Short Line in the south central portion. Elevation ranges 
from 5,000 to 8,000 feet. 

Topography. The county is characterized by a charm- 
ing alternation of wooded hill and arable valley, of rolling 
upland, pasturage and well-drained meadow. Some parts of 
the county are very mountainous, but broad extents of valleys 
and plateaus blend with the hills in charming and picturesque 
beauty. The mountains are cut by a number of swift-running 
rivers through deep canons, and the valleys are threaded by 
the numerous forks and tributaries of these rivers. Fair 
lakes are embosomed in the hills and feed great rivers and 
streams. 

Water Courses. The rivers of the county are the Bear, 
Green, Salt and Snake. The principal tributaries of Bear 
River are Black's Fork, Twin Creeks and Smith's Fork. 
Those of the Green are Horse Creek, Cottonwood, the three 
Piney creeks, La Barge Creek, Fontenelle Creek and Henry's 
Fork. Those of the Snake are Buffalo Fork, Gros Ventre and 
Hoback's rivers from the eastward, and John Davis and Salt 
rivers from the south. Besides the lakes and rivers, there are 
about forty named creeks of considerable size traversing the 
surface of the county. 

Statistics. Lands assessed, $849,666.14; total assessed 
valuation of all property, $3,504,701.60; rate of taxation, state 
and county, 20.65 mills. County debt, $103,500 (bonded); 
number of miles of railroad, 176.95, assessed at $1,343,571.80; 
number of schools, thirty-nine; teachers, fifty-four; districts, 
fifteen ; school children between five and seventeen years, 
2,215. Population, census of 1890, 7,881. 

Principal Towns. The county seat is Evanston; popula- 
tion, 1,995. It is pleasantly situated in the Bear River valley : 
has many natural advantages and is one of the most prosper- 
ous and attractive towns in the State. It is the home of pros- 
perous merchants, cattlemen and sheepmen; Union Pacific 
shops are located here, and there are two banks, three news- 
papers, five churches, commodious brick school house, large 
brick court house and jail, electric light plant, waterworks 
and three hotels. The State Insane Asylum is situated here, 
and also the United States Land Office for Evanston District. 

Almy, about five miles west, has nearly as large a popula- 



UINTA COUNTY. 37 

tion as Evanston, and is the largest coal mining camp in 
the county. 

Diamondville and Kemmerer are the principal towns on 
the Oregon Short Line, and are large coal producers. 

Star Valley, 125 miles from the county seat, is traversed 
by Salt River, Cottonwood Creek, mountain streams and nu- 
merous large canals and laterals. The population is about 
2,300. The people, mostly Mormons, are thrifty and prosper- 
ous. They raise timothy and alfalfa, hay, oats, barley and 
winter wheat, large crops of potatoes and garden truck, and 
in agricultural wealth and splendid ranges for cattle rival the 
people of the southern end of the county. 

The famous Jackson Hole and Jackson Lake lie in the 
northern part of the county, south of the Yellowstone Na- 
tional Park. Jackson Hole is an extensive valley of fertile 
lands and some good farms, and is traversed by Snake River 
and numerous creeks. 

Soil. The soil is of three distinct classes: First, the 
bottom or meadow lands, usually possessing a rich, black and 
somewhat heavy soil, lying next to the streams, always easily 
irrigated and on that account generally the most desirable to 
settlers. Second, the bench lands, rising terrace-like toward 
the neighboring hills, possessing as a soil a warm sandy loam, 
always easily drained, usually presenting no great obstacle 
to irrigation, and now being generally recognized as the soil 
capable of the widest range of production. Third, the high 
bluff lands watered by numerous mountain streams, usually 
too sandy for cultivation, but naturally affording the most 
ample and nutritious pasturage for horses, cattle and sheep. 

Climate. The winters are not severe, and the summers 
are always temperate. Clear, frosty days, with an occasion- 
al exceptionally cold night; usually severe weather in March; 
some very warm days in summer, but always cool and reviv- 
ing breezes in the night. The sunshine of this county, as of 
the State in general, is remarkable not only for its brilliancy 
but for its persistency, cloudy clays being in this section the 
exception. 

Agriculture. The production of timothy and wild hay, 
alfalfa, oats, potatoes, winter wheat, and in some sections 
barley, occupy the whole attention of Uinta County farmers. 
Possessing a soil singularly fertile and lasting, this county 
offers exceptional inducements to the agriculturist, with the 
assurance that the waters will never fail; that his crops will 
never be blighted by drought, and abundant harvest will 
surely follow seed-time. 

Timber. Throughout the county timber is abundant on 
the hill-sides for lumber, fuel and mining purposes. Yellow 
and white pine, some cedar and spruce, cottonwood and asp- 
en, are the principal growths. Saw-mills are in operation in 
many portions of the countv, and much lumber is produced. 

4 



38 STATE OF WYOMING. 

Mining. On the banks of the Snake and Gros Ventre 
rivers, placer mining has been carried on with indifferent re- 
sults. In this end of the county no developed properties now 
exist, outside of extensive coal mines. The supply of coal in 
the county is practically inexhaustible. Other minerals have 
been found, but are undeveloped, 



WESTON COUNTY. 



Weston County is one hundred miles long by forty-eight 
miles wide, comprising 3,133,440 acres, and has a population of 
about 3,200. The total assessed valuation of all kinds of prop- 
erty, in 1898, was, $1,174,203, divided as follows: Farm lands 
and improvements, $192,867; town lots and improvements, 
$105,625; cattle, $437,118; horses, $37,743; sheep, $26,696; all 
other property, $105,737. County indebtedness, $39,800. Rate 
of taxation, 19.73 mills. 

Weston County, although enjoying an altitude between 
4,000 and 5,000 feet above the sea level, and possessing good 
soils, is not so well watered as other sections of the State, 
owing to the absence of large streams having their sources 
in the lofty mountains of the snowy ranges. The rainfall, 
however, is considerably greater than at a higher altitude, 
averaging from eighteen to twenty inches per annum. The 
dark loamy soils, in parts of the county, are quite productive 
without irrigation, and the reddish gypsum soils, found at the 
base of table lands, retain the moisture and are very fertile. 
The chief precipitation is in the spring and early summer, 
and crops make rapid progress from germination to maturity. 
Wild fruits of the smaller varieties, such as plums, goose- 
berries, currants and strawberries, grow plentifully. All the 
farm products known in the northern latitudes are produced 
in this region, even Indian corn, and the yield is most excel- 
lent. Wheat of the spring varieties yields over fifty bushels ; 
rye over forty, oats seventy to even one hundred bushels, and 
corn, of the flint, dent and squaw varieties, also makes good 
returns. Timothy, alfalfa, red clover and other tame grasses 
are cultivated with success, as are also potatoes, rutabagas, 
turnips, carrots and sugar beets, the last named producing as 
high as six tons per acre, with 20 per cent, of sugar, as shown 
by analysis. Stock growing makes an excellent accompani- 
ment of farming throughout this region. Shorthorns, Here- 
ford, Sussex and West Highlands cattle find favor for the 
range. Horses also receive much attention and are increas- 
ing in value. 

There is good pine timber in the Black Hills, and numer- 



WESTON COUNTY. 39 

cms saw-mills supply the wants of the settler. Gypsum is 
found in inexhaustible quantities, and superior building 
stone, granite, and lime. Salt-producing springs have 
been discovered near Jenny's Stockade, and an oil district, 
in the same locality, covers over 400 square miles. West- 
on County is famous for its coal, which finds a ready 
market in the adjoining states of South Dakota and Nebraska 
and along the line of the Burlington Railroad, which traverses 
the entire length of the county, east and west. 

Newcastle, the county seat, is a thriving town. The 
first building was erected in September, 1889, the Burlington 
Railroad having reached that point in the previous month. 
After the discovery of coal, the population grew very rapidly, 
and at the present time is about 1,000. It 1890 extensive 
waterworks were constructed at a cost of over $100,000 by the 
Cambria Mining Company, which furnishes an abundant sup- 
ply of water for Cambria, Newcastle, and the great coal 
mines; a $6,000 town hall and $12,000 school building have 
been erected. Within the immediate vicinity are several oil 
wells, the first discovery being made fifteen years ago. All 
lines of business are well represented and prosperous. 

Cambria is a coal-mining town, the population being act- 
ively engaged in that industry. The quality of coal mined is 
excellent, and is described elsewhere in this publication. 
Modern equipment and methods are the characteristics of the 
mining plant. The coal here is of a coking quality and coke 
ovens are in operation, more than 25,000 tons being produced 
in 1898. 



AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT, 

By Hon. Elwood Mead, State Engineer. 



In describing the agricultural development of this State, 
many interesting facts will have to be left out. Details can 
not be given, only general statements. The diversity of con- 
ditions is so great that to discuss the peculiar features of each 
agricultural district would take more pages than are at my 
disposal. In some ways this limit will make this description 
incomplete. No general statement will fit all sections of the 
State. In the Wheatland Colony grain is the principal prod- 
uct. In Jackson Hole it is not grown; there cattle are the 
farmers' mainstay. Lander farmers, one hundred and fifty 
miles from a railroad, must pursue different methods from 
those near Douglas, with two railway connections with the 
outside world. There is a wider difference in climate between 
the Laramie Plains, with their elevation of 7,000 feet above 



40 STATE OF WYOMING. 

sea level, and the lands around Sheridan at half that eleva- 
tion, than there is between Sheridan and Salt Lake. Many 
settlements are isolated and have developed local peculiar- 
ities, both in methods and ideas. Thus Star Valley is a region 
of small farms. There are more 160-tracts than of larger 
areas. On Clear Creek the reverse is true. One ranch ex- 
tends along the stream fifteen miles. The districts settled by 
range cattle owners or sheepmen do not resemble the districts 
settled by small farmers from Utah, either in appearance or 
in the views of the land owners. All I can hope to do, and 
all that will be attempted, is to explain to those interested in 
the State, and those looking for homes, how large are the op- 
portunities here presented, and how great a range there is 
for individual choice. 

FARMING, THE STATE'S MOST STABLE INDUSTRY, 

The ten years which have intervened since I became 
State Engineer have shown that farming is one of the State's 
most solid and best paying industries. None others have kept 
pace with it in growth, and no other class of citizens have as 
much to show for their ten years' labor. The men with mort- 
gaged homes and burdened with the oppressive drain of two 
per cent, a month have nearly all not only cleared this off, 
but have a bank account of their own. Land values are be- 
ginning to rise. New homes are being built; more land is be- 
ing reclaimed, and there has been an entire change in senti- 
ment about the possibilities of Wyoming's agriculture. 

Anyone who will compare the valleys of Box Elder, La 
Prele and La Bonte creeks, in Converse County, as they were 
ten years ago with what they are to-day, can form some idea 
as to whether farming pays. 

There are two reasons for the unusual success of Wyo- 
ming farmers. The first is the large area of free public land 
and a limited area of cheap state land on which to pasture 
herds of cattle or flocks of sheep. The best results have been 
had from uniting farming and stock-raising. The old idea 
that the range was the thing was largely true, but this is now 
giving way to the more humane and safer plan of uniting the 
grazing and irrigated lands. The second is the high price of 
farm products. Wyoming still has to import large quantities 
of hay and grain, and practically all the fruit consumed in 
the State. There are few sections where the supply of any 
staple crop equals the demand, hence prices are higher than 
in many of the large seaboard cities. 

OPPORTUNITIES FOR SETTLERS AND HOME-SEEKERS, 
Land in Wyoming must be irrigated to raise profitable 
crops. The exceptions to this statement are too limited to be 
worth considering. Settlers can do nothing towards making 
homes on the 50,000,000 acres of non-irrigable lands. Of the 
irrigable land only about 10 per cent, is now being cultivated. 



AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT. 41 

More than this is under ditches, but the greater part is still 
vacant public land. 

There are still a few places where small, cheap ditches 
can be built, but they are in remote localities and usually at 
high elevations where production is limited. On the head of 
Green River are large tracts of easily irrigated land, but there 
are frosts every month in the year, and hay is the only crop 
which can be depended on. The same situation exists along 
the headwater, f the Snake, Wind and Sweetwater rivers. 
Here, although cheap ditches are' possible, the land is worth 
but little after they are built. I know of no section of the 
State having an altitude of 6,000 feet or less where public 
land which can be cheaply watered is open to settlement, and 
letters received at the State Engineer's office from all over the 
State make the same statement. Those looking for homes are 
not, however, restricted to public land. Land already patented 
and reclaimed can be bought for less than the improvements 
on it. cost. Farming lands are the cheapest property in Wyo- 
ming, and they are cheaper than in any of the. surrounding 
states. As a result, an irrigated farm can be bought out- 
right much cheaper than it can be created. In order to as- 
certain what are the opportunities in different sections of the 
State, a letter of inquiry was addressed to some responsible 
citizen in each county. Replies were not received from all, 
but from those which came the following selections have 
been made. 

Edward Gillette writes from Sheridan County : 

This county combines in an exceedingly favorable manner crop- 
raising- and stock-raising. The range grasses here are considered by stock- 
men to be unexcelled ; an evidence of this is in the fact that range beef 
from this county usually receives the highest price for that class of beef in 
the Chicago market. Referring to the crops, they also receive the highest 
awards, both for quality and quantity. 

The price of land here at present is low ; good land, with fair water- 
rights, can be had at ten dollars per acre. Farmers and stockmen who 
are well established in their business will not sell for twenty-five dollars 
per acre, and do not care, as a rule, to entertain any proposition to sell. 

It would appear from the earning power of tile ]and that its worth 
should be from forty to fifty dollars per acre, and I have no doubt but 
that such will be the case in a few years. 

In a new country like this some farmers, so-called, at least, are al- 
ways found who will sell out, not knowing when they have a good thing, 
aud naturally more inclined to wander about than to settle down to real 
w T ork. 

The lower bottom land along the streams is practically all settled at 
present. Nothing, as yet, w^orth mentioning, has been done toward recla- 
mation of the upper bench lands. These lands, however, will, no doubt, 
make our best farms in the future. We have not reached that stage in 
our development where water is stored in the natural sites for reservoirs 
along our mountain streams. Judging from the success of reservoirs in 
Colorado, we are on the eve of a great development along that line in this 
country, where freight rates to Chicago are the same as from Colorado 
points. Fuel is abundant and cheap, being delivered at Sheridan in car- 



42 STATE OF WYOMING. 

load lots at one dollar per ton. Tlie favorite method of farmers in this 
locality is to lease from the State large pastures of good grazing land in 
connection with their irrigated lands ; this insures a good business in rais- 
ing stock as well as crops. Cattle-raising is the most prosperous business, 
and probably will be so for ' long time to come, owing to the vast ranges 
of fine grazing lands in this section of country. When our agricultural 
lands are increased two-fold by i leans of reservoirs in the mountains, the 
percentage of farm lands will be exceedingly small as compared with the 
vast acreage of land covered with nutritious grasses, and which seems 
specially made for extensive stock purposes. The farmers who lease graz- 
ing lands from the State at a few cents per acre per year, take great care 
to preserve and increase the growth of grasses thereon and thereby insure 
for themselves a safe, sure and exceedingly profitable business for all time 
to come. The average elevation of farm lands in this county is a little 
under 4,000 feet above sea level, Sheridan, the county seat, being 3,720. 
The Big Horn mountains and valleys which compose this county are sim- 
ilar to the Wasatch mountains and rich valleys of Utah, while the rolling 
country between the valleys is covered thickly with the finest growth of 
grasses, while in Utah sage brush and a comparatively barren country 
exists. 

The climate here is good; the chinook, or warm winds from the 
Pacific Ocean, keep the range open during the winter, the streams abound 
in trout, and insure a supply of pure and cool water for domestic pur- 
poses. Mining prospects in the adjacent mountains indicate that before 
long the mining of copper, gold, silver and nickel will be extensively 
prosecuted.. As a rule, the best farmers appear to be those who pay most 
for their farms, and the farms costing the most produce the best incomes. 
This need not deter the good farmer, without means, from coming to this 
country, for in two years' time he can pay for a good farm here, at the 
present low price of land, from the crops raised. 

It is my belief that in a very few years farm lands in this section will 
be worth two or three times what they are at present; this is a sure thing, 
if there is anything in the fact that the value of property is based upon 
what income it will produce. 

The supply of water here is good and can easily be increased. For 
the purpose of raising hay it is practically unlimited at present. 

The conditions in Johnson Count}?- are practically the 
same as those of Sheridan. The irrigable lands are watered 
from the Big Horn Mountains; the elevation, climate and 
markets are the same. Land in Johnson County is somewhat 
cheaper than in Sheridan. I am informed that excellent 
ranches having adjudicated water-rights can be purchased 
from five to fifteen dollars an acre, depending upon the char- 
acter of the buildings, distance from town, etc. 

1ST. H. Brown gives the following facts relative to prices 
and yields in the valley surrounding Lander: 

Crops grown here are mainly hay — alfalfa, timothy and native; grain 
— oats, wheat and barley; vegetables — potatoes, cabbage, beets, turnips, 
tomatoes, cucumbers, squashes, celery, asparagus, and all kinds of vege- 
tables commonly grown in Wisconsin. Michigan and New York, but gen- 
erally better in quality and producing much more per acre. 

Average yield of alfalfa hay is five tons per acre. Timothy, one and 
one-half tons. Native, about one ton. 

Oats yield an average of forty bushels per acre; wheat, about thirty- 
five bushels, and barley about thirty bushels. 



AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT. 43 

Cattle .are almost universally close herded in summer and pastured in 
winter until about the first of March, then fed until grass comes in April. 

Sheep and horses have nearly all the open range. Hog-raising is 
fairly profitable. 

There are a good many ranches for sale. Irrigated land is held at 
fifteen to twenty-five dollars per acre. There is plenty of water for irri- 
gation, and water rights are aji good, except late appropriations on some 
of the small streams. 

The only place I know where men of small means can take irrigable 
public land is on upper Big Wind River, but the country is high and 
cold, suitable for stock-raising only. 

In Big Horn County there is probably more unoccupied 
land under completed ditches than in any other section of the 
State. Three of the projects undertaken under the Carey Act 
are situated in this county. Under the Cody Canal about 
20,000 acres of public land can be purchased for fifty cents an 
acre; shares in the canal, ten dollars an acre. There are 
about 20,000 or 25,000 acres under the canals of the Big Horn 
Basin Development Company, and a few thousand acres un- 
der the canal of the Yellowstone Park Irrigation Company, 
which can be had on equally favorable terms. In all of these 
cases long time is given on payments for canal •shares, with 
interest at 6 per cent. On the east side of the Big Horn Basin 
considerable land can be brought under cultivation by ex- 
tending the ditches already taken out. I think it would be 
no exaggeration to say that in Big Horn County three times 
as much land can be cultivated as is now devoted to crops, 
without building a single additional ditch. All that is needed 
is more settlers. Irrigated lands in this county, along the 
smaller streams and under private ditches, can be purchased 
at from five to ten dollars an acre, on long time payments. - 

The following statement relative to Big Horn County has 
been submitted to me by Mr. W. S. Collins : 

Kind of crops which can be grown : Wheat, twenty to forty bushels 
per acre; oats, thirty-five to eighty bushels per acre, weight thirty-five to 
fifty-two pounds; alfalfa, three to five tons per acre; native hay, red top, 
timothy, one and one-half to three tons per acre; corn, thirty to seventy- 
five bushels per acre. 

Cost of land and water: Land, from four to ten dollars per acre, 
with good ditches complete and plenty of water. Water costs from fifty 
cents to ten dollars per acre. 

Opportunities for outside range, first-class; good profit and no risk in 
raising stock, except the wolves are troublesome on outside range in some 
localities. 

More of everything raised last year than ever before. In spite of the 
cry of over-production, prices are better and vegetables, hay and grain 
scarcer than any previous year. 

Our county, made up of valley, table land and mountain slopes, is 
adapted to the raising of all the crops that are grown in Illinois or Iowa. 
Horses, cattle and sheep can each find the locality most suitable. 

Corn is a staple crop. Many farmers in the valleys, and even on the 
table land, are turning their attention to the raising of hogs, pasturing on 
alfalfa in summer, fattening them in the fall on corn. 



44 STATE OF WYOMING. 

Yes, there are plenty of lands not yet taken where water can be ob- 
tained to irrigate at small expense. Lands are very cheap here — too 
cheap. I do not think that there is a locality in the State where lands 
are as cheap. It cannot remain long in this way. There is too much dif- 
ference between prices of farms here and the prices of the products of 
these farms. 

Along the Platte Valley, in the vicinity of Douglas and 
Casper, farm lands have recently advanced in price, so that 
desirable ranches will sell to-day for double what they would 
two years ago. The thing which does much to determine the 
value of a ranch in this section is its water front. Kange 
stockmen are beginning to buy ranches, and the thing that 
they scrutinize most closely is the control which the water 
front gives them of the public grazing lands back of it. 
Throughout this region the farmers are generally very pros- 
perous, and there are but few ranches for sale. A few miles 
west of Casper, A. J. Both well, one of the large land owners 
in that section, is endeavoring to cultivate and eventually 
dispose of his lands by leasing them to settlers in small 
tracts. As this is a new departure in this State, the following 
extract from an article in the Casper Derrick is inserted, giv- 
ing an outline of his plan : 

Under all the contracts let, Mr. Both well keeps the ditches in repair 
and delivers the water for irrigation on the laird leased by each farmer, 
and guarantees a market for all hay and grain raised, agreeing that the 
price of grain shall not be less than one cent per pound. 

Under one form of contract Mr. Bothwell makes with farmers under- 
standing how to grow alfalfa, he leases to the farmer one hundred acres 
of ground with the water delivered on the land for irrigation. The farm- 
er plants the land in small grain the first year, and the second seeds it to 
alfalfa. All hay and grain grown thereon the first two years belongs ex- 
clusively to the farmer. Upon the alfalfa cutting three tons of hay at 
two cuttings in one season, the land is turned back to the owner at the 
rate of ten dollars per acre in cash, and one dollar per ton for stacking 
the tons of hay grown thereon, thus making thirteen dollars per acre paid 
the farmer the year the land is turned back, besides getting all he pro- 
duced on the land the two previous years. 

Under this form of contract the farmer furnishes everything, and if 
at the delivery of the field of alfalfa to Mr. Bothwell the farmer wishes to 
remain on the property, a permanent contract will be made with him to 
manage, grow, stack and feed to stock the hay raised on said land. 

Another form of contract is when the farmer knows nothing of rais- 
ing alfalfa, but understands the growing of small grains. Mr. Bothwell 
leases him one hundred acres of land, with water delivered on the land 
and seed to plant the same for the consideration of one-half the crop 
grown thereon. 

Ex United States Senator Joseph M. Carey, President of 
the Wyoming Development Company, whose lands surround 
the town of Wheatland, ninety miles north of Cheyenne, re- 
plying, writes as follows : 

Replying to your letters of recent date, I will state that irrigated 
lands at Wheatland, of good quality, can be purchased for twenty dollars 



AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT. 45 

per acre. This includes a perpetual water-right. The lands are not re- 
mote from the railroad station. 

By actual experiments, these lands have been found well adapted for 
the growing of all cereals successfully grown, in this latitude. The lands 
are exceedingly well adapted for the growing of all root products, such as 
potatoes, sugar beets, turnips, etc., and there is no better country for the 
growing of the ordinary vegetables. Certain varieties of Indian corn do 
well with limited irrigation. 

I do not believe there is a better country for the growing of alfalfa; 
three crops are cut each season. 

Farm machinery is but a trifle higher than it is in Iowa and Missouri, 
the only difference being the freight. Hardware, dry goods and groceries 
are cheap. 

It is difficult to give the price of farm products, because of the great 
changes constantly taking place. Especially has this been the case during 
the years 1897-98. Some farmers have sold their wheat for one dollar 
and forty cents a hundred, and others did not receive more than ninety 
cents. Some have secured as high as a dollar a hundred for potatoes, 
while others have sold for sixty-five cents. Oats have brought from sixty- 
five cents to eighty-five cents a hundred pounds. 

With reference to fruit growing in the Wheatland Colony, I have 
this to say, so far as experiments have been made flattering results have 
been obtained. I saw a fine quality of apples, plums and cherries grown 
last year. There have been large yields of strawberries, gooseberries and 
currants. ■ 

It has been demonstrated from experiments during the last five years 
that sugar beets yield largely in the Wheatland Colony, and possess a 
very high measure of sugar, running from 16 per cent, to 24 per cent., 
the test being made by the Agricultural Department of the United States 
and by the University of Wyoming. 

In other parts of the county land under smaller ditches 
can be had for from ten to twenty dollars per acre, and letters 
from the various counties of southern Wyoming show that 
the present value of irrigated farm land ranges from five to 
twenty dollars per acre. Many of the large ranch owners in 
Uinta County are proceeding to break up their holdings and 
sell them in small tracts. 

By C. H. Priest I was furnished a list of large tracts of 
land in Uinta County, which the owners desire to dispose of. 
From this list it appears that along Bear River and Black's 
Fork Creek and its tributaries, there are numerous tracts of 
reclaimed and improved land offered for sale at from five to 
fifteen dollars an acre. These lands are very productive, and 
they are adjacent to what I regard as one of the best local 
markets in the United States. I believe they are far below 
their productive value, and that they are destined to be much 
higher within the next five years. 

Last year I made a trip through Jackson Hole, probably 
the best watered section of the West; certainly the best 
watered section of this State. While there I formed a very 
high opinion of the possibilities of this region as a cattle 
growing district. One of the oldest, as well as most success- 
ful, stock raisers of that district is Mr. Robert E. Miller, who 



46 STATE OF WYOMING, 

kindly furnished me with the following statement of the pro- 
duction and possibilities of that region : 

The crops in this valley are principally hay — native, red top, timothy 
and alfalfa. 

Potatoes are not a sure crop. 

Rutabagas, turnips, carrots, parsnips and cabbage are a sure crop — 
cannot estimate the yield per acre of vegetables for lack of experience. 

Hay of all kinds can be raised successfully, averaging from one to 
two and a half tons per acre, owing to kind, season and attention. 

The future of our valley as a farming country is doubtful, as it has 
frosts every month in the year. 

This valley is naturally adapted to cattle raising, being entirely sur- 
rounded by high ranges of mountains that cut us off from all outside 
ranges. The low lands are limited, our winters are long, requiring that 
all animals must be fed from ninety to one hundred and twenty days 
each year. 



HORTICULTURE. 

By Burt. C. Buffum, M. S., 
Professor of Agriculture and Horticulture, University of Wjyoming. 



Near our larger towns and cities some market gardening 
is done, and some fruits are produced, but, as a rule, not 
enough attention has been given these industries to furnish 
the home market, and large quantities are shipped in to sup- 
ply the demand. This is due to the fact that we are now in 
the transition period between the great stock grazing industry 
and a new regime of diversified agriculture. This newness 
offers advantages to the prospective settler not found else- 
where. 

Vegetables. As a general indication of what may be 
done in raising vegetables in our State, I would point out the 
fact that, at altitudes of 5,000 feet and less, sweet potatoes 
and peanuts are successfully produced. A good quality 
of leaf tobacco has been raised at Wheatland. Up to alti- 
tudes of 5,500 feet, such tender crops as tomatoes, melons, 
pumpkins and squashes grow to perfection, while in all por- 
tions of the State are raised enormous crops of onions, beets, 
potatoes, turnips, cabbage, cauliflower, salsify, rhubarb, cel- 
ery, and like hardy vegetables. In 1894 the Experiment Sta- 
tion at Laramie recorded an average yield of over fifteen tons 
of onions from sets, giving a net profit of $90.41 per acre. 
The better varieties of seed onions gave yields in different 
portions of the State of from twenty to over forty-six tons per 
acre. Maximum yields of turnips were upwards of forty 
tons; carrots, ten and a half tons, and potatoes, five hundred 
and twenty-two bushels per acre. 



** HORTICULTURE. 4? 

In productiveness, size and quality, our garden vegetables 
can successfully compete with like kinds raised anywhere. 

Fruit Growing. The friction of starting is greater than 
the friction of movement. While we have no very extensive 
fruit farms as yet, enough has been done to indicate what is 
possible and to demonstrate that there is no irrigated agricul- 
tural land in the State which will not produce profitable crops 
of some kinds of fruits. The planting of fruits, which was 
begun on a small scale but a few years ago, is rapidly grow- 
ing in favor. I know of no branch of agriculture which is 
advancing with more rapid strides than that of fruit-growing. 
At the present rate of increase, our production of fruits for 
home consumption will soon be of great importance to the 
State. It must be remembered that Wyoming still belongs to 
the newer part of the West, and much of our industry is such 
as is still making use of materials already on hand, rather 
than forcing the soil to produce artificially. The establish- 
ment of irrigated farms and the greater production of diversi- 
fied agriculture marks the dawn of a true and lasting pros- 
perity. Our first farming was naturally such as furnished an 
increased amount of food for live stock, and the more staple 
farm crops. Fresh, ripe fruits (distinguished from the dried 
and tin-can varieties), which have indeed been rare luxuries 
upon our scattered ranches, are rapidly becoming necessities 
in progressive homes. The regime of the wandering hunter 
and trapper, the shifting pioneer population and the nomadic 
stockman has passed, and our population is made up of a 
happy, contented, home-building people, surrounding them- 
selves with comforts and luxuries and providing for the com- 
fort of generations to come. Our agriculture and horticulture 
are becoming permanent and staple. The soil fertility is be- 
ing kept up rather than merely taking from it all its great 
natural wealth of plant food. Fruit plantings are lasting and 
will yield their returns through future years. With irrigation 
and the intelligent use of improved farm methods, our crop 
yields are above the ordinary, the quality of the produce is 
unexcelled, and years of failure are so rare as not to be taken 
into account at all. 

General Conditions. Our conditions of soil, climate and 
exposure are exceedingly various. In a few localities, where 
the annual rainfall is greater than fifteen inches, or where 
the lands are underlaid with surface water at no great depth, 
fair crops are raised without irrigation. We have agricultu- 
ral lands at altitudes of less than 3,500 feet, and from this to 
over 7,000 feet above sea level. There are wind-swept plains, 
rolling uplands, protected mountain valleys, and bottoms 
along streams,' with corresponding lengths of growing sea- 
sons free from frost of from eighty days or less, to more than 
one hundred and fifty days, and the mean annual temperature 
varies from forty degrees F. to about fifty degrees F. On ac- 
count of these widely varying conditions, the fruits raised, 



48 STATE OF WYOMING. 

the place where they are to be planted, the methods of treat- 
ing them, must be decided largely by each person for himself* 
There is a wide range of kinds and varieties from which to 
choose, that will succeed in this latitude, and the success 
with which certain kinds have been grown in the different 
parts of the State will aid in making the choice. 

What has been Done. The most extensive fruit trials of 
which we have authentic records are those made upon the 
several experiment farms in different portions of the State. 
In addition to these trials, however, are the important results 
obtained by our farmers and ranchmen themselves, who have 
been producing fruits for a number of years. We now have 
bearing orchards in Fremont, Sheridan and Laramie counties, 
and more scattered trees fruiting in nearly every section of 
the State. So far as we can learn, the first trees were set out 
from 1882 to 1885. The first planting was made upon the ex- 
periment farms in 1892. Russian apricots and some varieties 
of pears have produced thrifty trees and seem hardy, though 
they have not yet fruited. 

Apples. The hardy varieties of apples succeed in all 
parts of the State. Mr. Jacob Lund has successfully fruited 
the Wealthy apple at about 7,400 feet altitude on the Laramie 
Plains. Several varieties of crabs are also being raised above 
7,000 feet. Mr. J. S. Meyer and Mr. Edward Young, in Fre- 
mont County, have produced large amounts of fruit from 
their orchards every season for the last seven or eight years. 
The principal varieties which have succeeded with them are 
the Wealthy, Duchess of Oldenburg, Yellow Transparent, 
Briar Sweetcrab, Transcendent Crab, Great Lakes Siberian 
Crab, Martha Crab, Soulard Crab and Montreal Beauty Crab. 
The Ben Davis also fruited upon the Lander Experiment 
Farm. In Sheridan County Mr. C. H. Manning has a large 
bearing orchard, consisting principally of the following vari- 
eties: Yellow Transparent, Antonovka, Tetofsky, Moscow, 
Enormous, Hibernal, Wealthy, McMahon, Switzer, Plum 
Cider, Red Astrachan, Wolf River and Gideon. He states he 
has had good crops every year since the trees were old 
enough to bear, with the single exception of 1892, and that all 
these varieties are hardy except the Plum Cider. 

In Laramie County the Ben Davis, Oldenburg, Wealthy, 
Pippin and Northern Spy, as well as a number of varieties of 
crabs, are bearing. We have no accurate data of the yields 
obtained from apples other than that they have borne full 
crops and that years of failure are very rare. 

Plums. The native wild plum is found over the larger 
portion of the State. The best cultivated sorts tried are the 
De Soto, Weaver, Hawkeye, Wolf and Rolling Stone varieties, 
all of which have borne fruit. 

Cherries. The best varieties are the English Morello, 
Early Richmond and Dwarf Rocky Mountain. They evident- 
ly will succeed in all parts of the State, and the last named is 



HORTICULTURE. 49 

especially prolific. Mr. G. W. Barlow of Sheridan estimates 
that his Dwarf Rocky Mountain cherries, set eight by ten 
feet, yielded an average of eight quarts per plant, which 
would be 4,356 quarts per acre. 

Small Fruits. The strawberry is the most cosmopolitan 
of all fruits, and it seems to succeed under all our conditions 
if properly cared for. Some varieties succeed better than 
others under local conditions, but a few standard sorts, such 
as Crescent, Wilson, Jucunda, Captain Jack, etc., seem to 
adapt themselves to widely different conditions. The best 
variety for any locality must be determined by experiment. 
At Sheridan, 11,645 quarts of Jucunda Improved berries have 
been gathered from an acre of plants. 

Currants and Gooseberries succeed in all parts of the 
State, if given half a chance, though gooseberries do not seem 
to do as well at high altitudes as currants. Mr. James King 
has raised some fine crops of Red Cherry and White Grape 
upon the Laramie Plains. These varieties and the Crandall, 
which is the finest black sort, are the best of the varieties 
which have been tried for all parts of the State. At Wheat- 
land, White Grape yielded at the rate of 9,075 pounds per 
acre, Red Cherry 14,520 pounds and Crandall 32,670 pounds. 

At Lander, White Grape currants yielded at the rate of 
11,570 quarts per acre, and Red Cherry 7,260 quarts. 

The best varieties of Gooseberries are the Downing and 
the Houghton. The Industry has also given excellent results 
at Sheridan. At Wheatland, the Downing yielded at the rate 
of 21,780 pounds per acre, and the Houghton at the rate of 
16,335 pounds per acre. Downing gooseberries at Lander 
yielded 13,159 quarts per acre. 

Blackberries and Dewberries. The dewberries seem 
to succeed better than the ordinary blackberries at high alti- 
tudes. The canes of blackberries and dewberries, as well as 
those of raspberries, must be covered with earth for winter 
protection. The Early King seems to be the best variety of 
blackberries tried. It yielded at the rate of 9,525 pounds per 
acre at Wheatland. This variety was the most prolific at 
Lander, also. 

Raspberries have succeeded somewhat better than black- 
berries. At Wheatland, Thompson's Early Prolific, which 
did better than any other kind, yielded at the rate of 6,808 
pounds per acre. At Sheridan the raspberries gave large 
crops each year, but the varieties were somewhat mixed, so 
comparative results are not of much value. 

Grapes will probably not succeed much above 5,500 feet 
altitude, unless they can be given more than ordinary protec- 
tion. Some varieties have been fruited at Sheridan, and the 
early varieties planted at Lander have made excellent growth 
and are now producing fine crops. The Wyoming Red and 
Concord have been the heaviest yielders and have shown that 
they will ripen before early frosts. Grapes merit more ex- 



50 STATE OF WYOMING. 

tended trial than they have had, especially in sheltered local- 
ities. 

Raising Fruits for Market. Undoubtedly for some 
time to come the home demand will be greater than the sup- 
ply. This gives the Wyoming fruit grower a decided advan- 
tage over growers in old, well-established fruit belts. He 
will not need to place his fruits in competition with those in 
the general market, and the expense of shipping precludes 
serious competition from growers in other states in any kinds 
of fruits which he can successfully raise at home. He can 
supply his own home much cheaper than he can buy inferior 
products from elsewhere, and his surplus will find ready sale 
in home markets. 

Cost and Profit with Fruit. We are still sufficiently 
utilitarian to look upon the cash side of every proposition, and 
it is necessary to show the prospective fruit grower what may 
be expected in expenditures and returns. It is not possible to 
state the money value of the higher living and increased 
health which come along with greater fresh fruit consumption 
in the home, and the greater independence of producing it 
ourselves, but we have estimated the money value at the local 
market prices and the expense under local conditions of pro- 
ducing and marketing strawberries, raspberries and dwarf 
cherries. We give average yields, the lowest market price, 
and the greatest probable expense of raising the crop in each 
case, as follows : 

Strawberries. 
Average yield per acre of thirty-one varieties at Sheridan, 1896, 6,920 qts. 

Value at ten cents per quart, local market $692.0.0 

Total cost of plants, setting- out new beds each year, cultivation, 

irrigation, picking, boxing, crating and marketing, per- acre. .. 301.60 

Net profit per acre ' $390.40 

Raspberries. 
Average yield from all varieties grown at Sheridan for two years, 953 qts. 
Value per acre at local market price, twenty-five cents per quart. .$238.25 
Total cost of raising, picking and marketing, per acre 65.65 

Net profit per acre $172.60 

Dwarf Cherries. 
Mr. Barlow Of Sheridan estimates an average yield of Dwarf Rocky 
Mountain cherries of eight quarts per plant, when set eight by ten feet 

apart. This would give a yield per acre of 4,356 qts. 

Five cents per quart would be a very low price for the fruit, giv- 
ing a value of the crop, per acre, of $217.80 

Although picking, boxing and crating would cost less, we give the 

cost of raising and marketing the crop the same as for raspberries 65.65 

Net profit per acre. $152.15 

Fruit Growing with vs. without Irrigation. While 
much has been said of the advantages of farming under irri- 





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LIVE STOCK. 51 

gation over farming in pluvial districts, these advantages are 
not appreciated as they should be. We hear of the disadvan- 
tages of raising crops by irrigation only from those who are 
unacquainted with it in actual practice. Many who barely 
exist upon unirrigated farms cannot understand how the ad- 
ditional expense of applying water is to be met, and it could 
not be if an increased crop production did not more than pay 
all the added expense. Those who have farmed under good 
irrigation systems would be loth to return to rainfall condi- 
tions and take the years of failure, or the lower yield, with 
good grace. 

Late frosts, which would be destructive to fruit buds and 
flowers, may be quite effectually prevented by keeping the 
ground well soaked, and water in the furrows on nights when 
there is danger of frost. 

The, irrigated orchard bears its full crop of fruit every 
year, instead of resting every other season, or two seasons 
out of three. The quality of the crop is improved by the ap- 
plication of water just when it is needed, and in our dry cli- 
mate there is little danger of too much water being forced on 
the plants during the fruiting season. Naturally the quality 
of the fruit is improved as well by the large amount of sun- 
shine, which gives it the highest colors and materially aids 
in the ripening and sweetening process. 

In good irrigation practice, the soil fertility is never less- 
ened by leaching. In fact, fertility is conserved to the great- 
est possible extent, and most irrigation waters add plant foods 
to the soil. It has been demonstrated that water carrying 
quantities of sediment adds to the total amount of plant food 
in the soil regardless of the crops removed each year. In such 
places artificial fertilizers will never be needed, while the pro- 
duction may be as constant as in the famous valley of the Nile. 

The time of irrigation, when the soil and plants are in 
need of water, and the amount to be applied, along with the 
best methods of applying it, are matters whose correct solution 
requires careful and intelligent thought and study of every 
fruit grower. They must be determined largely by each in- 
dividual for the conditions of soil and climate in his locality. 



LIVE STOCK. 



The live stock industry of Wyoming, which for a long time 
was its only industry, has a history as varied and romantic as a 
sixteenth century tale. When the country now comprised by 
this State was first discovered, a luxuriant grass covered the 
prairies, upon which nothing but buffalo and wild game 



52 STATE OF WYOMING. 

grazed. Her first herds were gathered and reared by men 
who preceded the first attempts at actual settlement of the 
Territory. Lying in the pathway of that great migration to 
the Pacific Coast, which began in the middle of the present 
century, her territory was necessarily traversed by countless 
long trains of ox-teams, many of which, through accident or 
disease, were destined never to reach their journey's end. 
Sick, injured, footsore and poor, these animals were aband- 
oned to live as best they might or become a prey for the wild 
beasts of mountain and plain. That many of them lived 
through the winter following and were fat enough for beef in 
the early spring-time, proved a revelation to the man accus- 
tomed to long and expensive winter feeding, and forced his 
attention to the fact that our mountain grasses must possess 
nutritious qualities of marvelous worth. To raise cattle, 
horses and sheep was, for our earliest settlers, an easy mat- 
ter, but to keep them was quite a different proposition, for 
the Indian had little respect for the rights of ownership and 
no horse was safe beyond the reach of a bullet from his own- 
er's trusty rifle. When the white man came to stay, he 
brought vast herds of cattle, that thrived upon the open 
ranges without care or attention, on the strong and nutritious 
grasses. Fast following on these early days of settlement, of 
danger and accumulation, came the "boom" in the cattle 
business during the '80s, marked by the investment of mil- 
lions of dollars by men who knew nothing of the business in 
which they so recklessly embarked. About 1886-7, settlers 
having fenced in the rivers and creeks, thus cutting off the 
winter shelter, and the range having been overstocked, this, 
together with an exceptionally hard winter and short feed, 
caused disaster to overtake us and reduced a profitable busi- 
ness to bankruptcy. The period of unwarranted speculation, 
fancy prices and extravagant waste was of short duration, 
and naturally enough was followed by a rapid depression of 
prices and the consequent failures of the inexperienced. And 
yet, deplorable as were the results, this bitter experience 
teaches no new lesson in domestic economy ; neither does it 
in any way detract from the material advantages which this 
State offers to anyone who would embark in stock-raising as a 
legitimate enterprise. 

Following this appeared the ranchmen of moderate means, 
having smaller herds of cattle, who had learned from bitter 
experience that feed must be provided for severe winters. 
Thus ranches were settled and irrigated — alfalfa, hay and 
other feed provided, rendering the business that was former- 
ly so precarious a safe and steady avocation, and one that is 
rapidly giving our people wealth and independence. 

Since 1883 the sheep industry has grown enormously, and 
many, heretofore, poor men have become rich, some owning 
as many as 65,000 head. Sheep are grazed in the mountains 
in the summer, and in the winter upon the plains where they 



MINERAL RESOURCES. 53 

find the cured grass, as Nature provides it, together with the 
browse furnished by the sagebrush. A sheep man needs no 
ranch, and makes no preparations in the way of harvested 
feed for the winter, but, like Abraham of old, moves about 
with his flocks, in the summer living in tents in the cool 
shades of the mountains, and in winter in a "sheep wagon," 
which is fully equipped with spring bed, stove and kitchen 
outfit. Sheep are subject to no disease except scab, which is 
easily cured with proper attention. The wool, at ten cents 
per pound, a little more than pays all the costs of running the 
sheep a year, so that the increase and mutton are the accum- 
ulated net profit. 

Embracing about 98,000 square miles of territory, nearly 
every acre of which is clothed in a mantle of the most nutri- 
tious grasses and sagebrush browse, Wyoming presents a ter- 
ritory for grazing purposes 40 per cent, larger than is found 
in all the eastern states combined. Add to this vast food 
supply the most delightful climate in the world, with cool 
summers and dry, mild winters, and it is but little wonder 
that Wyoming has been called the "Stockman's Paradise", 
and that it has become an important factor in the supply of 
beef, mutton and wool to the eastern and western markets. 

The requisites for success in the business are a few cat- 
tle, sheep or horses, and attention to their wants under the 
conditions of the country and climate. The man who can do 
this for a few years will, with common prudence, find himself 
independent of the world, and his old age may be spent in 
peace and with plenty. 



MINERAL RESOURCES. 

By Prof. Wilbur C. Knight, University of Wyoming 



There are few states in the Union that possess mineral 
resources as vast and varied as those of Wyoming. But there 
is not another state as rich in mineral wealth that the general 
public knows so little about, and where the resources are so 
universally ignored. Located, as it is, in the midst of the 
Rocky Mountains, and nearly surrounded by states with great 
mining interests, it is inexplicable why Wyoming has never 
produced a Leadville, Aspen, Deadwood or Butte. The moun- 
tains are as high and rugged ; they are traversed by mineral- 
ized veins and discoveries are numerous throughout the 
ranges. Camps have been located and prospectors have at- 
tempted, at least, to make some mines. This prospecting, 
however, has never been thorough; the shafts are shallow 
and lateral development very slight, In fact, there is not a 

5 



54 STATE OF WYOMING. 

shaft in the State, so far as I know, that is 300 feet deep, and 
yet from shallow workings of this kind prospects have pro- 
duced from $40,000 to $200,000. Unfortunately for Wyoming, 
the classes of men attempting mining have been those inex- 
perienced in any kind of mining; at the outset they antici- 
pated that a small expenditure this month meant large re- 
turns the next. They have considered that a few hundred 
dollars would soon make a prospect worth many thousands. 
They have been disappointed time and time again. This 
class has not realized that it costs on the average $35,000 to 
make a mine out of a prospect, to say nothing of mills to work 
the ore. This drawback, coupled with the work of dishonest 
manipulators, has been the stumbling-block in the way of 
mining industries in Wyoming. It can be removed, and as 
soon as this has been done the mineral output will gradu- 
ally increase until this State will compare favorably with its 
near neighbors. Making a mine is like building up a profes- 
sion or business. It takes money and time and careful man- 
agement, without which only failure awaits anyone search- 
ing for mineral wealth. 

The fact that gold, silver, copper and lead ores are known 
in every mountain range is sufficient evidence that mines can 
be made here as in other localities. What Wyoming needs at 
this time more than anything else in connection with its min- 
eral resources, is a few thorough mining men, who have am- 
ple means to make a mine out of some of the good prospects. 
As soon as it is proven that depth means a mine, then there 
will be no further trouble. There is not another state in the 
Rocky Mountains with greater possibilities than Wyoming; 
none with so much public domain subject to location as min- 
eral land. Besides the precious metals, the wealth of coal, oil 
and gas will make Wyoming as great a state as Pennsylvania. 

Gold Mining. Gold mines were opened in Wyoming in 
1867, since which date the industry has amounted to some- 
thing each year. The production per annum has fluctuated 
from $25,000 to $125,000, The placer mines that were rich 
enough to be worked with limited means were worked out 
years ago. Large tracts of placer gold ground that can only 
be worked with great expenditure of money and the most 
modern and economic devices, remain. These are now owned 
by large companies, who are arranging to work them. The 
quartz veins, from which the most of the gold produced Has 
been taken, and which will furnish most of the yellow metal 
in the future, are found in all of the mountains. Districts 
that have been very prominent are as follows: Fremont 
County; Seminoe, Medicine Bow, and Sierra Madre mountains 
in Carbon County ; Black Hills, Shoshone Mountains and Lar- 
amie Mountains. As a rule, a vein with good ore near the 
surface is a very favorable prospect. These are common in 
Wyoming, and should the shafts be carried to sufficient depth 
the veins will prove valuable. 



MINERAL RESOURCES. 00 

Silver and Lead. There are silver and lead prospects in 
nearly all of the mountain ranges. Galena is the leading ore, 
and it always has silver associated. The silver value varies 
from ten to six hundred ounces per ton. All of these pros- 
pects are located a long distance from the railroad. Camps 
have been located in Crook, Big Horn, Carbon, Albany and 
Laramie counties. While Wyoming may have as good lead 
and silver camps as any other state, it is a hard matter to in- 
terest capital in propositions ranging from fifty to two hun- 
dred miles from the railroad. 

Copper. Copper prospects are very numerous. Mines 
have been successfully operated in Laramie and Carbon coun- 
ties. There are two classes of ores : The oxides and carbon- 
ates that are found in the limestone, and the sulphides that 
are found in nearly all formations. Recently rich copper prop- 
erties at Grand Encampment have received much attention, 
and are being worked very extensively. 

Coal. Coal mining has been the leading mineral indus- 
try in the State, and will, in all probability, continue in the 
front rank for a time, though copper is fast gaining upon it. 
It had its origin with the advent of the transcontinental rail- 
road, and has increased with the development of the State 
until to-day it employs an army of workmen and has a prod- 
uct of over 3,000,000 tons of coal per annum. 

The kinds of coal vary from a pure lignite to a high-grade 
long-flamed bituminous variety. The best grades of coal are 
low in sulphur and ash, and are excellent fuels for locomo- 
tives, general steam making, domestic purposes, and gas pro- 
duction. 

A semi-anthracite was discovered in Johnson County in 
1897. Coking coal has been discovered in two or three local- 
ities, and coke ovens are operated at Cambria, having an 
output of over 20,000 tons per annum. 

All coke so far manufactured in this State has been made 
at Cambria, and the great increase in the amount produced 
in the past two years indicates the growth of an industry 
that will eventually employ thousands of men. Wyoming 
stands eleventh in the list of coke-producing States; the pro- 
duction has increased 50 per cent, in the past year, and 300 
per cent, in the past two years. 

The coal fields are so universal that coal is known to ex- 
ist in every county, and in all but one coal mines are worked. 
The area of workable coal land is over 20,000 square miles. 
The coal veins are numerous. It is not an uncommon thing 
to find six or eight workable veins in a single field. In thick- 
ness the seams vary from a few to seventy-five feet. The 
coal mines operated at present have working veins varying 
from four to forty feet. The coal lands are owned, to a large 
extent, by the Government, and are subject to location. Al- 
ready three great railroads have penetrated these fields, but 
the industry has only started, and by the close of another 



56 STATE OF WYOMING. 

quarter of a century, Wyoming will be producing not less 
than 10,000,000 tons of coal per annum. 

Wyoming stands thirteenth in the list of coal-producing 
states, and while the amount produced in other states has re- 
mained stationary in the past two years, the amount produced 
in Wyoming has increased 20 per cent. 

Petroleum. Eighteen oil fields are known in Wyoming, 
and several more will be discovered when prospected for. In 
each of these fields, oil is flowing from springs, or there are 
thick bands of oil-sand exposed. The greater number of these 
fields are situated in the central part of the State, but there 
are fields in the northeastern part, in the southwestern por- 
tion and in the northern central region. The oils that have 
been analyzed vary in nature from high-grade lubricating to 
oils that will produce from 40 to 50 per cent, of kerosene. 
None of the developed fields are less than fifty miles from the 
railroad, and in consequence, the oil industry is not yet of 
much importance. Salt Creek district is the only one that is 
making regular shipments, and this oil has to be hauled by 
wagon fifty miles to Casper, where it is refined. Other dis- 
tricts are producers, but there is no market. On the Popo 
Agie River, near Lander, are three wells that will produce 
600 barrels of oil per day. These wells have lain idle for 
years, because of the lack of railroads for transportation. 
From what is known at the present time, Wyoming will, when 
the oil fields have been developed, produce as much oil as any 
of the eastern states. With proper facilities for transporta- 
tion, the oil industry in Wyoming will be only second in im- 
portance to the coal. 

Natural Gas. Accompanying the oil fields are numer- 
ous natural gas horizons. The gas pressure in the oil wells 
near Lander is very great, and gas escapes are found at or 
near most of the oil springs. In the eastern part of Fremont 
County there are two natural gas escapes that are wonders. 
Some prospectors have dug shallow shafts and curbed them 
up with logs, the shafts are partially filled with water, and 
the gas escapes with such violence as to cause the water in 
them to boil as though in a cauldron. There are numerous 
anticlinals in the State that are not associated with the oil 
districts, where large flows of gas may be looked for. 

Bituminous Shale. In the Green River valley there are 
great bands of rich bituminous shale that equal the shales of 
Scotland, where an army of men are employed, and the pro- 
duction is sold for millions of dollars per annum. The shales 
are burned in a retort, and the products saved are gas, oil, 
tar and ammonium sulphate. This industry will, at no very 
distant date, prove to be a valuable one to the State. 

Arsenic. Ores of arsenic are found associated with ores 
of gold and silver, and in several localities there are extensive 
bodies of mispickel. 

Volcanic Ash. In several localities in Wyoming vol- 



MINERAL RESOURCES. 57 

canic ash has been found. In Albany County, near Laramie, 
there is a bed four feet in depth. It is almost white, and is 
so fine that the greater portion of it will pass through a 
100-mesh sieve. Samples of equal purity have been examined 
from Carbon and Sweetwater counties. This mineral is used 
for scouring purposes. It is the base of sapolio, and is also 
used in the geyserite soap. 

Graphite. Veins of graphite are known at Plumbago 
Canon, French Creek and Halleck Canon in Albany County, 
and in the Indian Grove Mountains in Carbon County. The 
veins are large and easily accessible. Analysis of samples 
from the various localities shows the carbon contents to vary 
from 40 to 60 per cent. So far as known, the ore is of the 
amorphous variety, and would make good fire-proof paint, 
stove polish or graphite crucibles. 

Asphaltum. Along the north side of the Rattlesnake 
Mountains, there are several deposits of asphaltum that occur 
below the oil springs. There are also places where the as- 
phaltum has penetrated loose rock and earth. The beds are 
not ver}^ extensive, but are sufficiently large to pay for open- 
ing. There is also another bed on the Shoshone Reservation 
east of Fort Washakie. This has been formed about an oil 
spring and contains several thousand tons. No attempt has 
been made to work the deposits. The quality is excellent, 
quite free from foreign matter, and it would make a splendid 
paying mineral. 

Manganese Ores. Ores that fall under this class have 
been found in Albany, Crook and Uinta counties. The de- 
velopment is only slight, since the discoveries are too far 
from railroads to warrant shipments. The ores are good 
grade, and are found in good-sized veins. Samples from, dif- 
erent localities vary from 40 to 55 per cent, of manganese. 

Epsom Salts. Epsom salt can be found in small quanti- 
ties throughout the arid region, but in Wyoming it is found 
in large beds. Near Rock Creek there is a depression contain- 
ing about ninety acres that is covered with this salt. The 
exact depth is not known. In this immediate vicinity there 
are several other beds. The salt is as pure as the commercial 
product that sells in our drug stores for ten cents per ounce. 
These deposits are near the railroad, and if properly handled, 
should enable a company to control the Epsom salt trade of 
America. 

Building Stone. Building stones of innumerable varie- 
ties are common throughout the State. The stone industry, 
however, has never been of much more than local importance, 
and only a few quarries have been opened with a view to ex- 
port trade. Granite, sandstone, limestone, quarzite, serpen- 
tine, marble and marble onyx are included in the varieties. 
The majority of these are found in inexhaustible beds and are 
unsurpassed for beauty and durability. There is no reason 



58 STATE OE WYOMING. 

why the stone industry of Wyoming should not compare 
favorably with that of Colorado. 

Gypsum. This mineral is very common and is found in 
all varieties. Beds varying- from twenty to 100 feet in thick- 
ness are exposed along the mountain ranges. The mineral is 
very pure and can be utilized for purposes where gypsum is 
required. 

Plaster of Paris. The Pocky Mountain Plaster Com- 
pany is operating a plaster mill at Red Buttes, which is the 
only one in the State. There is room and material in sight to 
supply a thousand mills ; in fact, Wyoming could furnish the 
world with plaster of paris for a thousand years, and then 
not consider the beds exhausted. 

Natural Plaster. In a few localities deposits of what 
has been called a natural plaster have been found. The min- 
eral occurs in superficial deposits, varying from two to six 
feet in depth. It is pulverulent and has a light gray color. 
When a portion of the water has been driven off, it sets and 
forms a very hard cement. The Standard Plaster Company 
of Laramie is manufacturing a plaster from beds recently 
opened near Laramie, and no doubt in numerous other local- 
ities beds of this natural plaster will be found, when pros- 
pected for. 

Clays. There are a few places in the State where com- 
mon brick are manufactured, but there are no other clay in- 
dustries. The clay beds are in abundance and are found in 
every county in the State. Common brick clay, fire clay, tile 
and terra cotta clay and potters' clay are found in thick beds 
in the sedimentary rocks, and not in superficial deposits, as 
they are usually seen in the northern and eastern states. The 
clay has not been studied, and one cannot at this time predict 
the future of the clay industries. Only a few years ago a 
clay was discovered at Rock Creek that was called mineral 
soap. For a number of years this clay has been sold in car 
loads to eastern clay men. The industry is on the increase 
each year, and it seems reasonable that it will ere long be of 
considerable importance. 

Tin. Black oxide of tin has been known in veins and as 
stream tin in the Wyoming portion of the Black Hills, for 
many years. Tons of stream tin have been mined and sold. 
The veins are slightly developed. Prior to the failure of the 
Dakota tin mining companies, the prospects on the west side 
of the hills were considered quite valuable. There are good 
veins of tin of average richness, and before many years the 
tin mines of Dakota and Wyoming will be worked. 

Salt. Salt springs, rich enough to warrant the establish- 
ment of a salt plant, occur in Weston, Johnson and Uinta 
counties. Salt has been manufactured in Uinta and Weston 
counties, but for local consumption only. 

Quartz. The Laramie Mountains abound in large veins 
of pure quartz. When ground it is valuable for glass-making. 



MINERAL RESOURCES. 59 

Glass Sand. There are numerous places in the State 
where glass sand is found. The beds near Laramie have 
been worked and proven. 

Mica. Muscovite mica, the mica of commerce, is very 
plentiful in Wyoming, but there are only a few localities 
where it has been found in "book" of sufficient size to war- 
rant mining. In Whalen Canon, some eight or ten miles 
from Hartville, and at Grand Encampment, there are numer- 
ous large veins of feldspar containing first-class mica. The 
former has been worked to some extent and a small shipment 
made. Sheets squaring six inches have been taken out near 
the surface. It is first quality in every respect. 

Feldspar. Orthoclase feldspar occurs in large veins in 
Whalen Canon. It is free from detrimental minerals, and 
could be utilized for all purposes where orthoclase could be 
used. 

Sulphur. Extensive deposits of native sulphur are 
known in Uinta County. While claims are held by prospect- 
ors, no attempt has been made to refine the crude brimstone, 
which assays from 40 to 70 per cent, of sulphur. 

Bismuth. Bismuth ore of rare purity has been mined at 
Jelm Mountain, and shipped to the East for reduction. The 
ore is a mixture of carbonates and metallic bismuth, and as- 
says from 50 to 65 per cent, of metal. 

Sulphate of Aluminum. This mineral, which is usually 
called native alum, occurs in extensive deposits in Sweetwater 
and Big Horn counties. It is the principal salt used in man- 
ufacturing commercial alums, and for this purpose it should 
be utilized in connection with the natural soda. 

Iron. Second to those of no state in the Union are the 
deposits of iron ore. Prospecting along this line has not been 
carried on to any extent, and only iron districts reasonably 
near the railroads have received any attention. The greatest 
deposits are red hematites, quite free from sulphur and phos- 
phorus, and quite low in silica. The only districts where de- 
velopment or mining has been carried on are Hartville, Raw- 
lins and Seminoe. In these camps are large deposits of soft 
ore which makes an excellent pigment. The hard ores are 
found beneath the surface in bodies varying from ten to 100 
feet in thickness. Rawlins and Hartville have furnished 
thousands of tons of ore to be used by the Salt Lake and Den- 
ver smelters as a flux for lead and copper smelting, and two 
railroads are now being built to the Hartville mines. Beside 
the hematites, there are great deposits of maquetites in the 
Laramie Mountains, and beds of clay ironstone in the creta- 
ceous rocks. Hematite ore has been found in Crook, Uinta, 
Johnson, Fremont, Big Horn, Albany and Sheridan counties. 
The ores examined are of exceptional purity. 

Fibrous Talc. A very large vein of fibrous talc exists 
in the range of mountains west of Wheatland. The quality 
is excellent. This mineral is used extensively in the East, 



60 STATE OF WYOMING. 

and as soon as the proper transportation can be furnished the 
Wyoming deposits will be worked. 

Decomposed Granite. Some three years ago the Union 
Pacific Railroad Company commenced loading decomposed 
granite from a point near Sherman and hauling it out as bal- 
last. It was found to be far superior to any other stone for 
this purpose. In 1897 the company loaded 304,936 tons, the 
most of which was used for railroad purposes; but it was also, 
to some extent, sold for road-building in cities, a use to which 
it is well adapted, and for which it will, in the near future, be 
extensively used. 

Natural Pigments. Soft iron ores have been utilized 
for red paint for years. For many years paint mills were op- 
erated at Rawlins. More recently the ore has been shipped 
to other states to be ground. The soft hematite ores are in 
large bodies and make a first-class paint. Ochres of various 
shades are known, but the beds have 'not been worked. 
Graphite that would make an excellent fire-proof paint is 
found in large bodies, but so far it has not been utilized. 

Semi-Precious Stones. The semi-precious stones are in 
abundance. Quartz crystals, agates, jaspers, moss agates, 
petrified wood, garnets and beryls are the important ones. 
The moss agates are the best found in the world. Thus far 
no precious stones have been reported. 

Natural Soda. Extensive deposits of natural soda are 
known in Carbon, Natrona and Albany counties. Numerous 
springs contain considerable soda, and at Green River a well 
yields a saturated solution of sodium carbonate. The depos- 
its vary in size from a few to 100 acres, and the soda ranges 
in thickness from a few inches to sixteen feet and possibly 
more. These deposits are chiefly sodium sulphate, but there 
are carbonates and possibly some bi-carbonates in some local- 
ities; along the Sweetwater River there are deposits that con- 
tain 60 per cent, of carbonate. Attempts have been made to 
work these great deposits of soda, but so far, owing to 
lack of transportation facilities, they have not been success- 
ful. The sulphate, when dried and calcined, has been sold 
in the East for glass-making, and also used at the Laramie 
glass factory. With proper machinery, these great beds of 
soda can be utilized and would bring in a large revenue. 

Asbestos. There are two minerals called asbestos, one a 
serpentine and the other an amphibole. The latter is the true 
asbestos, but the former is sold under the same name and used 
in the same way. The asbestos that is found in Wyoming, 
with the exception of small mineralogical specimens, belongs 
to the serpentine variety, and is known as chrysotite. Valu- 
able deposits of this mineral have been found in Natrona, 
Albany and Carbon counties. Natrona County has marketed 
some of the mineral. The long distance from the railroad 
will forbid work upon the majority of these discoveries for 
some years to come. 



MINERAL RESOURCES. Gl 

Warm Springs. Warm springs, highly charged with 
minerals, are numerous, so numerous that space cannot be 
given to enumerate them. Some of them are marvels, and in 
years to come will be known the world over. Saratoga and 
Big Horn Springs have already been proven. The Big Horn 
Springs, although over 200 miles from the railroad, have a 
large number of visitors each year. It is not an unusual sight 
to see people 200 miles from these springs, in a covered wagon, 
conveying a helpless invalid to the Big Horn Canon. 

A CATALOGUE OF WYOMINGIMINERALS. 

The following is a complete list, up to date, of the min- 
erals found in Wyoming. The numbers used are the same as 
in Dana's Mineralogy. The omitted numbers signify that 
the corresponding minerals are not known in Wyoming. 

Graphite.— No. 2. Amorphous varieties have been reported from 
Laramie, Albany, Carbon, Converse and Fremont counties. Foliated 
graphite has been found at Halleck Canon. This mineral is used for lead 
pencils, stove polish, crucibles and paint. 

Sulphur. — No. 3. Native sulphur occurs in large deposits in Big 
Horn and Uinta counties. 

Bismuth.— No. 11. Bright particles of metallic bismuth found at 
Jelm Mountain, Albany County, associated with a carbonate of bismuth. 

Gold. — No. 14. In placers and quartz veins in all of the mountain 
ranges in the State. Beautiful crystals are found in Douglas Creek placer 
mine. 

Copper.— No. 15. At Tie Siding, Albany County, nuggets of copper 
have been found that would weigh from ten ounces to 200 pounds. It 
has also been found in numerous other localities. 

Mercury. — No. 16. Found in the King David mine, Silver Crown, 
Laramie County, on the 115 feet level. 

Platinum.— No. 22. Associated with placer gold in mines on Douglas 
Creek, Albany County. 

Iron.— No. 25. Meteoric, found in Laramie County, 1887. 

Realg-ar.— No. 26. Associated with arsenical gold ores in Fremont 
County, and found in the vicinity of Cokeville, Uinta County. 

Orpiment.— No. 27. Associated with realgar in Fremont and Uinta 
counties. 

Molybdenite.— No. 34. Laramie, Albany, Johnson, Fremont and 
Big Horn counties. This mineral is usually found in thin scales and re- 
rembles graphite. It is also often mistaken for lead ore. It has no com- 
mercial importance. 

Argentite. (Silver Glance.) — No. 42. Runningwater mine, Converse 
County, and the Wood River mines, Big Horn County. 

Galena. — No. 45. A common ore in the mountains, usually carrying 
silver. 

Ohalcocite. — No. 54. A common ore, and usually found very pure. 
Samples often assay 70 per cent, of copper. 

Sphalerite — No. 58. Only found in the Ferris Mountains. 

Millerite.— No. 70. Reported as occurring with the copper ores from 
the Ferris Mountains. This has not been contirmed. 

Pyrrhotite. — No. 74. Large veins are known in the vicinity of Lar- 
amie Peak. 

Chalcopyrite.— No. 83. A common copper ore in Wyoming. 



G2 STATE OF WYOMING. 

Pyrite. — No. 85. Very common. Found in veins and associated 
with sedimentary rocks. 

Marcasite. — No. 96. Found in veins in the Medicine Bow Mountains, 
not far from La Plata mines. 

Arsenopyrite. — No. 98. Whalen Canon and Silver Crown, Lara- 
mie County; Medicine Bow Mountains, Carbon County; Atlantic, Fre- 
mont County. 

Krennerite. — No. 105. Based upon the determination of a single 
specimen found in a quartz vein on Douglas Creek, Albany County. 

Tetrahedrite. (Gray Copper) — No. 148. From the Sierra Madre 
Mountains, Carbon County, and Whalen Canon, Laramie County. 

Halite. (Common Salt.) — No. 166. Uinta, Weston, Johnson and 
Big Horn counties. 

Oerarg-yrite. (Horn Silver) — -No. 169. Black Buttes mines, Crook 
County. 

Fluorite.— No. 175. Near Tie Siding, Albany County. 
Quartz. — No. 210. 1 — Quartz crystals, common. 

3 — Amethyst, Boulder Ridge, Albany County; Red Desert, Sweet- 
water County; Amethyst Mountain, Big Horn County. 
4 — Rose quartz, Crook County. 

6 — Smoky quartz, Plumbago Canon, Albany County. 
7 — Milky quartz, common. 
Cryptocrystalline Varieties: 1 — Chalcedony, very common and 
in great variety. Beautiful specimens of mammillary and sta- 
lactite chalcedony are found in the northern part of Albany 
County. Chalcedony geodes occur in Whalen Canon, Laramie 
County. 
2 — Carnelian, Sage Hen Creek, Natrona County. 
3 — Chrysoprase, Fremont County, and in the vicinity of Agate 

Lake, Natrona County. 
4 — Prase. 
6 — Agates; a. Banded, Fremont, Natrona and Albany counties. 

b. Clouded agates, common. 

c. Moss agate, beautiful specimens at Hartville and Chugwater 
Creek, Laramie County, and Split Rock, Natrona County. 
Agatized wood, common. 

9 — Agate jasper, Carbon and Albany counties. 
11 — Flint, very common. 
12 — Hornstone, Fremont County. 

14 — Jasper, abundant once in great variety, besides the above. 
Quartzite very abundant. 
Tridymite. — No. 211. Sweetwater County, associated with late 
eruptives. 

Opal. — No. 212. Fremont, Uinta, Natrona and Albany counties. 
Precious opals not known. Opalized wood in many localities. 

Cuprite.— No. 224. Silver Crown, Laramie County, and Rock Creek, 
Carbon County. 

Tenorite. — No. 230. Michigan and Sunrise mines, Laramie County. 
Corundum —No. 231. Wind River Mountains. 

Hematite.— No. 232. 1 — Specuiar, Laramie Peak and Tie Siding, 
Albany County. 
2 — Compact column, Hartville, Laramie County. 
3 — Red ochreous, Hartville, Rawlins and Seminoe. 
4 — Clay ironstone, common in the cretaceous rocks. 
Ilmenite.— No. 233. Iron Mountain, Albany County. 
Magnetite. — No. 237. Laramie Mountains, Laramie and Albany 
( \ unities. 



MINERAL RESOURCES. 63 

Chromite.— No. 241. Dutton Creek, Carbon County. 
Minium. — No. 244. Lenox mine, Silver Crown. 
Oassiterite. (Black Tin).— No. 248. Black Hills, Crook County. 
Pyrolusite. — No. 254. Albany and Crook counties. 
Turg-ite.— No. 255. Crook County. 
Manganite. — No. 258. Albany County. 

Limonite.— No. 259. Miners' Delight, Fremont County; Medicine 
Bow Mountains; good crystals limonite after pyrites. 

Psilomelane.--No. 269. Warren's Peak, Crook County. 
Oalcite. — No. 270. Varieties based chiefly upon crystallization and 
accidental impurities : 

1 — Dogtooth spar, beautiful crystals at Cold Springs, Laramie 

County; nailhead spar, Table Mountain cavern. 
2 — Satin spar, Rock Creek, near the old stage crossing. 
3 — Granular limestone, common in carboniferous rocks. 
Hard compact limestone, very common. 
Lithographic stone, Vermillion Creek, Sweetwater County. 
Hydraulic limestone, quite common. 
Marbles in variety, general. 
Onyx marble, Hartville and Cokeville. 
Stalactites, Table Mountain cavern. 
Stalagmites, Table Mountain cavern. 
Travertine, Table Mountain cavern. 
Dolomitic calcite, near Laramie. 
Dolomitic. — No. 271. Twelve miles west of Uva, Laramie County. 
Siderite.— No. 273. Fremont, Big Horn, Albany and Carbon coun- 
ties — extent of deposits not known. 

Aragonite. — No. 277. Perfect crystals near the Big Horn Hot 
Springs. Pseudomorplis after hanksite, Albany County. 

Oerussite.— No. 281. Lenox mine, Silver Crown, Laramie County. 
Bismutospharite. — No. 283. McMullen mine, Jelm Mountain, Al- 
bany County. 

Malachite.— No. 288. Very common — good crystallized specimens 
at the Sunrise mine, Hartville. 

Azurite. — No. 289. Very common. 

Natron. — No„ 296. Sweetwater soda mines, Natrona County. 
Trona. — No. 299. From the same deposits as natron. 
Orthoclase. — No. 313. Very common. Valuable veins near Whalen 
Canon, Laramie County. 

Microcline. — No. 314. Halleck Canon, Albany County. 
Anorthoclase — No. 315. Obsidian cliff, Yellowstone Park. 
Oligoclase. — No. 316. Laramie, Albany, Carbon and Fremont 
counties. 

Labradorite.— No. 319. Common in the Laramie Mountains. 
' Leucite. — No. 321. Leucite Hills, Sweetwater County. 
Pyroxene. — No. 325. Very common in the archean rocks. Variety 
Augite associated with the eruptive rocks. 

Pectolite. — No. 330. Ferris Mountains, Carbon County. 
Anthophyllite.— No. 337. Near Owen P. O., Albany County. 
Amphibole. — No. 338. Common. Actinolite found in the Laramie 
Mountains, hornblend very common. 

Crocidolite. — No. 341. Bradley's Peak, Carbon County, associated 
with epidiorite. 

Beryl. — No. 344. Large crystals are numerous east of Whalen Canon, 
Laramie County. 

Noselite. — No. 364. Leucite Hills, Sweetwater County. 



64 STATE OF WYOMING. 

Garnet. — No. 370. Common in great variety: 
Grassularite, Laramie Mountains. 
Pyrope, Laramie and Medicine Bow Mountains. 
Massive garnet, Boulder Ridge, Albany County. 

Chrysolite.— No. 376. Fremont Peak, Fremont County. 

Fayalite. — No. 377. Obsidian cliff, Yellowstone Park. 

Zircon. — No. 394. South Pass, Fremont County. 

Cyanite. — No. 400. Medicine Peak, Carbon County. 

G-adolinite. — No. 404. Near Iron Mountain, Albany County. 

Epidote. — No. 407. Very common in archean rocks — good crystals 
near Laramie Peak. 

Tourmaline. — No. 426. Laramie Mountains and near Hartville, Lar- 
amie County. 

Staurolite. — No. 428. Whalen Canon, Laramie County. 

Mordenite. — No. 437. Hoodoo Mountains, Big Horn County. 

Muscovite.— No. 458. Common; large crystals of excellent quality 
at Whalen Canon. 

Biotite. — No. 462. Very common in archean rocks. 

Phlogopite. — No. 462 A. Leucite Hills, Sweetwater County. 

Lepidomelane.— No. 462 B. Laramie Mountains. 

Serpentine. — No. 481. Natrona, Carbon and Albany counties. 
Asbestos-chrysotite, same localities. 

Talc. — No. 484. Very common. A good quality of fibrous talc w T as 
recently found w r est of Wheatland. 

Saponite. — No. 488. Reported from Crook County— not confirmed. 

Kaolinite. — No. 492. Impure varieties are common. Under this 
head there are numerous varieties of clays. 

Bentonite, a new variety found at Rock Creek and Newcastle. 

Chrysocolla. — No. 504. Laramie Mountains and Hartville. 

Columbite. — No. 525. Nigger Hill, Crook County. 

Apatite. — No. 549. Sweetwater County and near Welcome, Crook 
County. 

Olivenite. — No. 561. Essex Mountain, Sweetwater County. 

Wavellite. — No. 636. Separation, Carbon County. 

Soda Nitre. — No. 683. Leucite Hills, Sweetwater County. 

Nitre.— No. 684. Leucite Hills, Sweetwater County. 

Borax. —No. 707. Reported from Fremont County; not confirmed. 

Thenar dite. — No. 716. Found in depressions in the arid region. 

Barite.— No. 719. Red Desert, Sweetwater County; Como Bluff, 
Carbon County. 

Mirabilite. — No. 743. Natural sulphate of soda, common in Wyo 
ming. 

Gypsum. — No. 746. Very common in thick beds, and pure. 
1 — Selenite, crystallized. 
2 — Fibrous, satin spar. 
3 — Massive, alabaster. 

Epsomite. — No. 748. Common; in large deposits in Albany County; 
also abundant in Sweetwater County. 

Melanterite. — No. 751. Whalen Canon and Big Horn County. 

Chalcanthite. — No. 755. Silver Crown, Laramie County. 

Alunogen — No. 775. This mineral is usually called alum. It is 
found in large deposits in Big Plorn and Sweetwater counties. 

"Wulfenite.— No. 818. Lenox mine, Silver Crown, Laramie County. 

Ozocerite. — Reported from Fremont County. 

Succinite. (Amber). — Found in the coal at various places. 

Petroleum — Very common, in great variety. 

Asphaltum. — Natrona and Fremont counties. 



THE CLIMATE AND ITS BENEFITS. 65 

Natural Gas. — Fremont and Natrona counties. 

Coal. —Bituminous, Weston, Sweetwater, Carbon, Uinta and Johnson 
counties. 

Semi-anthracite, Buffalo, Johnson County. 

Lignite, general. 

Total number of species, 108. 



THE CLIMATE AND ITS BENEFITS. 

By Dr. M. C. Barkwell, Member of State Board of Medical Examiners. 



MOUNTAIN RANGES. 

Nine-tenths of Wyoming lies within the Rocky Mountain 
region — strictly speaking the whole State is a region of vast 
plains, relieved by the broken and detached ranges and 
mountain spurs. In the eastern part of the State we encoun- 
ter the Laramie Range, which extends northwesterly for 200 
miles. . Proceeding westward, after traversing the southern 
portion of the Laramie Plains, we come to the Medicine Bow 
Mountains. Crossing the Platte Valley, which, with its trib- 
utaries, occupies a breadth of fifteen to twenty-five miles, we 
come to the main chain of the Rocky Mountains, almost con- 
tinuous, except for the broken series of ranges extending 
through the State, into Montana. From the western base of 
the Laramie Range, after crossing the Laramie Plains, near- 
ly 100 miles in width, an east and west range of mountains is 
found, which constitutes the southern front of the Sweetwater 
Valley. This wall bears several names, to-wit: Sweetwater, 
Seminoe and Ferris mountains. These are about five to 
twelve miles in breadth, in length almost 180 miles, and west 
of these lies the Green River Valley, sixty to seventy miles 
across. 

Returning to the eastern boundary, we find the Black 
Hills extending to the northern boundary of the State, where 
they come in contact with the Little Missouri and Wolf 
Mountains, whose high and picturesque heads occupy much 
of the northeastern corner of the State. 

Passing over the beautiful Powder River Valley and its 
tributaries, towards the west, we come to the magnificent 
Big Horn Range — fifty miles in breadth — extending 150 miles 
in Wyoming. Beyond flows the Big Horn River, watering a 
.basin fifty to 100 miles in width. Still beyond, in a south- 
westerly direction, are found the Owl Creek, Rattlesnake and 
Wind River mountains, the last named being the most exten- 
sive, with a direction corresponding to that of the Rocky 
Mountains. In fact they form a part of this great chain, and 
extending for a distance of 200 miles from the point of depart- 



66 STATE OF WYOMING. 

ure from the Sweetwater Range, finally end in the Yellow- 
stone National Park. 

Still west of this range lie the upper basins of the Green 
and Snake rivers, the two being separated by short spurs, 
known as the Gros Ventre and Wyoming mountains, con- 
necting the Wind River with the Wasatch referred to as con- 
tributing, for about 100 miles, to the western wall of the State. 

From this general description of the position, extent and 
course of mountain ranges, widely distributed over the State, 
large areas of valley and plain are found. Recalling the 
physical peculiarities of the State, the northwesterly trend of 
its broken and scattered mountains, with grand gateways for 
the admission of Pacific air-currents, and the low altitude of 
the mountain ranges beyond the northern boundary of Wyo- 
ming, we should be prepared to deduce a climate theoretically 
quite different from one based on altitude and latitude alone. 
That latitude itself is not a sufficient criterion, anyone may 
readily satisfy himself by comparing the climates of western 
Europe with those of the Atlantic side of North America, on 
the same parallels. Cold New England, for example, with 
Spain and Italy, rigorous Newfoundland with sunny France, 
or frozen Labrador with warm Old England. The explana- 
tion is easy when we take into account the configuration of 
the two continents, with the contrary influence of the warm, 
northeasterly currents of wind and water that temper the 
climate of the European continent, and the chilling waters 
from Spitzbergen that wash the eastern shores of America. 
On the western shore of this continent the existing conditions 
are exactly reversed. It is warmed by the northeasterly Pa- 
cific currents, which diffuse a warmth along the slope on that 
side that is felt throughout the high regions of the Rocky 
Mountains, and which, coming around the head of those 
mountains and down along the eastern side of the Big Horn 
Mountains, exert a special influence throughout northeastern 
and eastern Wyoming. 

GENERAL. 

There is no region of equal area, that is possessed of more 
abounding and diversified richness of resource and possibility. 
It is almost as limitless in undeveloped opportunities as it 
was when Bonneville first broke his way into Jackson Hole 
— now the wonderland of the United States. Much more in 
praise of the richness of this young commonwealth could be 
given without vain repetition or exaggeration. The climate 
of this region of mountains, plains, parks and valleys, of this 
land of sunshine, azure sky, and bracing and tonic air, calls 
for a more wide-spread appreciation than now prevails. 
From what has been said of the physical features of Wyo- 
ming, variety of climate would be expected. On the mountain 
peaks, 13,000 feet above sea level, perpetual snow abounds. 
In the lower valleys apples, grapes and smaller fruits are 



THE CLIMATE AND ITS BENEFITS. 67 

grown. Three things are common to all of Wyoming — dry 
air, sunshine and blue sky. All over the State — except at 
high altitudes — one may, even in midwinter, sit in comfort in 
the sunshine in any sheltered corner. 

It is the glory of perpetual sunshine which has perhaps 
more to do with the exhilarating effect of Wyoming climate, 
on both sick and well, than anything else. It is the spark- 
ling dry air which makes life happier and more satisfactory 
than it could be under the clouded skies of the east and south. 
Diminished barometric pressure, small rain-fall, low atmos- 
pheric humidity, intense sunshine on account of the dry and 
thin air, and absence of cloudiness, make this the ideal abode 
of those suffering from pulmonary troubles. 

MEDICAL AUTHORITIES, 

"In selecting a climate the question of degree of temper- 
ature is a minor one. A dry, equable temperature is always 
preferable. Dry cold is not dangerous and is indeed prefera- 
ble to enervating warmth." (Wood and Fitz. Practice of 
Medicine.) 

Geo. Burney, M. D., says: "In selecting a climate for a 
consumptive, the first question which occurs to us is the in- 
quiry as to the proportion of sunny days in which out-door 
exercise can be safely enjoyed. In the great majority of 
cases, a dry climate with abundant sunshine and pure air 
constitutes the desideratum." 

Dr. Weber says: "Setting aside individual peculiarities, 
the majority of tubercular patients do best at a height of 
three to six thousand feet." 

Dr. Knight of Boston says: "In suitable cases (those in 
which large cavities are not formed in the lungs) the improve- 
ment in nutritive activity is much more marked in mountain- 
ous regions than on the plains", and that "four to eight thou- 
sand feet is the proper altitude." In this statement I fully 
concur, after an experience in treatment of many cases of pul- 
monary consumption covering a period of thirty-five years. 

"I am as sure as I can be that recoveries from phthisis, 
judiciously treated at high altitudes, are much more numer- 
ous and much more lasting than those treated by any other 
method at any other place." (Sir Andrew Clark.) 

The cases that are most favorably impressed here are — 

1. Where the apices are early affected. 

2. Those without cavities, although advanced and with 
consolidation. 

3. Recent cases, whose salient symptom is hemorrhage. 

4. A non-progressive cavity is benefitted. 

5. Remaining consolidation after pleurisy and pneu- 
monia. 

6. Chronic laryngeal also no worse here than elsewhere. 
The clothing worn in Wyoming is such as is commonly 



G8 STATE OF WYOMING. 

worn in the middle states, of our altitude, except that the 
storm coat is but little used. In summer, underwear of me- 
dium weight is usually worn. 

CURE FOR SPECIAL MALADIES. 

If one were called upon to select a climate calculated to 
benefit a patient suffering from a particular malady, it would 
seem the most rational to select one where that particular 
disease or class of diseases did not prevail, and as endemic 
phthisis has never been known to generate in Wyoming, no 
stronger argument could be advanced in favor of this being a 
curative climate. 

Resorts of any desirable elevation are within reach. 
Wyoming presents equally as favorable climatic influences 
for the restoring of those invalided by bronchial maladies and 
catarrhal states of the throat and naso-pulmonary air-passages 
as it presents for the cure and alleviation of tuberculosis. 

This is the region, par excellence, for asthmatic people. 
Many hundreds of people of all ages, thus afflicted, have 
come here from low altitudes of the east and west, have been 
restored to health and vigor, and to-day are some of the most 
active and prosperous of our citizens. 

Our altitude does not militate even against those who 
have valvular disease of the heart, unless where compensa- 
tion is destroyed, and accompanied by dilatation and weak- 
ness. 

My observation has been that patients do equally as well 
at advanced age, and are as uniformly benefitted in this alti- 
tude (6,041 feet), as those who are younger. What is true 
of the heart applies as well in regard to pneumonia, bron- 
chitis and pleuris}^, which diseases are extremely rare here, 
and the percentage of deaths much smaller than in any other 
state in the Union. 

Chronic laryngitis and bronchitis are speedily cured by 
residence, unless they exist as complications of advanced 
stages of consumption. Persons whose habits of life do not 
allow or compel them to fully expand their luugs in a pure 
atmosphere; pale, anaemic clerks, those of sedentary habits, 
with hacking coughs; nervous and dyspeptic people; children 
with narrow, stooping shoulders and flat breasts, with im- 
paired digestion, should come to these mountains, if possible, 
as the air of this region necessitates full breathing; every 
cell in the lungs is forced into activity, straightening the 
form, increasing the breathing area, and hurrying the blood, 
thus purified, freely through the lungs. 

The choice of climate for the patient is the most import- 
ant part of the treatment. Usually the first decision made is 
whether the patient shall or shall not go away from home. 
The proper rule is, the milder and apparently more insignifi- 
cant the local disease, the more important the seeking out of 
a suitable climate, because the more is to be hoped from cli- 



THE CLIMATE AND ITS BENEFITS. 69 

matic treatment. If, with the involument of each lung, there 
be present softening and formation of cavities, change of cli- 
mate only can be expected to give relief. Such cases — except 
where softening is of limited extent — should not be brought 
to these high altitudes, as the fatal termination is only hast- 
ened by so doing. Chronic diseases peculiar to women do 
well. Those suffering from general debility and nervousness 
are almost certain to be cured by a residence here for a suffi- 
cient length of time. 

CLIMATOLOGY- AVERAGE FOR FIVE YEARS. 

Temperature. — Mean temperature averaged 41.7°. August was the 
warmest month, with a mean of 67.4°, and December was the coldest, 
with a mean of 17.4°. The highest monthly mean, 73.4° for July, and 
the lowest, 5.8° for December. The highest temperature was 105°, dur- 
ing July and August, and the lowest was 30° below zero during December, 
making an extreme range of 135° for the State. 

Precipitation. — The yearly precipitation was 12.58 inches, slightly 
below the normal. May was the month of greatest precipitation, when 
nearly twice the normal amount occurred. September was the dryest 
month of the year, the average being but 0.25 of an inch, or about one- 
fourth of the normal. The average was above normal during the months 
of May, October and November, and below normal the remainder of the 
year. 

Weather. — The percentages of clear, partly cloudy, and cloudy days 
w r ere 50, 32, and 18, respectively. There was an average of sixty-seven 
clays on which 0.01 of an inch or more precipitation fell. Foggy weather 
iu the State was not usual, as at Lander dense fog did not prevail for an 
hour at any time during the year, and at Cheyenne but twice. The per- 
centage of sunshine at Cheyenne w^as 69, being least in May, 43, and 
greatest in September, 77. 

FAVORED LOCALITIES. 

The mean percentages for the State are well represented 
in the strip of country lying along the eastern base of the 
mountains, from Cheyenne on the south to Sheridan on the 
north. This, supplemented by the valleys of the Big Horn, 
Wind River and Grand Encampment, where the plains meet 
the foot-hills, and sheltered by the towering ranges to the 
west and south, is the region best suited to the invalid. 
Within this district are Cheyenne, Douglas, Sheridan, Casper, 
Buffalo, Laramie City, Rawlins, Saratoga and Lander. In 
the mountains are pleasant parks at higher elevations, offer- 
ing attractive outings in the summer. 

The elevation in this belt runs from 4,000 to 7,500 feet; 
rainfall, as seen by the report of Observer Palmer, is about 
fourteen inches; snowfall light and disappearing rapidly un- 
der the bright, warm sun, with no chilling slush to prevent 
the patient from enjoying outdoor life. The spring and sum- 
mer have the not infrequent showers confined to the after- 
noon. The never ending rainy spells and continued drizzle 
of the lower altitudes do not occur on these mountain plat- 

6 



70 STATE OF WYOMING. 

eaus. The dryness of the air of this great table-land and the 
consequent rapidity of evaporation must be kept in mind in 
considering temperature in these altitudes. The average 
summer temperature is about 70 degrees. 

CLIMATIC CONDITIONS, 

The heat is never intense. In the hottest summer 
weather it is but a step from the heat of the sunshine into the 
shade, which is always cool. Sunstroke is unknown. The 
air in winter is clear and sharp, but easily borne and even 
pleasant. In the shade there is the tingle of northern cold, 
and heavy clothing is none too warm. Its tonic effect upon 
nutrition is from its coolness the more marked. It is the bril- 
liant and continuous sunshine which is much praised by 
mountain residents, and which is misunderstood to refer to 
air. The invalid who comes to Wyoming for a winter is not 
coming to a climate of balmy warmth, but rather, and better, 
to one where the bracing cold is flooded for more than three- 
fourths of the day with bright sunshine. The sun in this re- 
gion is almost a constant equation, reaching about 82 per 
cent, of the total days of the year. The chief advantage in 
the eastern belt of Wyoming is the early morning sun. There 
are no high walls for the sun to climb, therefore the sun is up 
and spreading his genial rays before the invalid is awake, 
warming the atmosphere for his out-door exercise, without 
the long wait until mid-day which is required in other high 
altitudes. Here we have the good, exhilarating effects of 
nine hours of sunshine. And as Dr. Clinton Wagner says of 
Colorado, so I say of Wyoming: 

In describing- a climate which presents so many anomalies, the dry- 
ness of an inland desert, the cool, bracing air of the far north, an atmos- 
phere so clear that mountains 130 miles distant can be seen distinctly 
without the aid of a glass, the sun of the tropics, a sky that surpasses that 
of Italy in loveliness, and scenery which excels that of Switzerland, one 
may justly stand in dread of being charged with indulging in language of 
the imagination, yet it is all true. From September till the latter part of 
April little or no rain falls; there are no fogs, no mists. 

MINERAL SPRINGS. 

Wyoming is pre-eminent for her mineral springs. If we 
take into our estimate the Yellowstone Park, this alone sur- 
passes the rest of the world in the number and magnificence 
of its waters. The mineral springs include hot, cold, sulphur, 
iron and the alkaline earths, and genuine mud springs. 
Notable ones, but by no means the most important, are at 
Death Lake, where they number more than 400. A famous 
hot spring is located two miles west of Fort Washakie, on the 
Shoshone Reservation. This spring is 320 feet long by 250 
feet broad, with an average temperature of 149 degrees F. 
The minerals held in solution are medicinal. It is held in 



THE CLIMATE AND ITS BENEFITS. 71 

great repute by both whites and Indians, as curative of rheu- 
matism and neuralgia. 

In Beaver Canon, north of Sheep Mountain, a sulphur 
spring with a temperature of 90 degrees F. is found, and near 
by are cold springs which contain soda in solution, sulphur, 
iron compound, sulphuretted hydrogen, gases and carbonic 
acid. Another equally large, of sulphur, having a tempera- 
ture of 97 degrees F., exists in Fremont County, and is much 
sought by people outside of the State, suffering with stomach, 
kidney, liver and bowel disorders. 

A spring with a temperature of 108 degrees F. is located 
ten miles below old Fort Laramie; another at the head of 
West Horse Creek, whose temperature is 104 degrees F. ; still 
another in the Platte Canon, at the east end of the Seminoe 
Mountains, having a temperature of 98 degrees F. in the 
Platte Valley, at Saratoga, is a large group of hot mineral 
springs^temperature 120 degrees F., which have been exten- 
sively improved and are becoming annually more and more a 
place of resort. The waters contain sulphur, alkalies, salts, 
and some, in addition, the salts of iron. There are many 
other springs scattered throughout the State whose analysis 
suggests that they possess valuable medicinal qualities, but 
owing to the limited number of people, lack of transportation, 
and consequent small market for mineral water, it has been 
impossible to develop many of them. Mention should also be 
made of the cold springs, containing sulphur, carbonic acid, 
and iron, which are found near Rawlins, and at Evanston; 
at the head waters of the South Powder, and along Salt 
Creek, are found a large number of salt springs, which also 
contain sulphate of soda in solution. 

At Thermopolis, in the Big Horn Basin, the hot springs 
have an analysis nearly identical with the water at the Hot 
Springs, Arkansas. These are protected by state law, and 
are under the control of the Board of Charities and Reform, 
who will this year, by authority of law, improve them for the 
accommodation of the public. 

VACATION RESORT FOR TOURISTS AND HUNTERS. 

There is no better district in the Rocky Mountains for a 
holiday or camping tour than Wyoming. The stillness of the 
mountains soothes and quiets those who have become mental- 
ly exhausted from prolonged strain and anxious cares or ab- 
sorbing occupations. Its summer is cool, and in the higher 
parks the nights are cold. Autumn is an unbroken stretch 
of cool and sunshiny days. Game and fish are abundant. 
The railroads carry one to within a short ride, by horse or 
wagon, through yet unbroken wilderness. From June to 
October is the season for roughing it. With restoration to 
health, Wyoming does not say, "Now return to your home", 
but rather welcomes the restored invalid and holds out to him 
many inducements to remain. The varied resources of the 



72 STATE OF WYOMING. 

State are only beginning to be appreciated. Agriculture, 
stock-raising and mining offer a wide field for investment 
and development. Besides all these things, he does not ex- 
patriate himself, but is at home in his own land, surrounded 
by his own countrymen, observing the same laws, and prac- 
ticing the manners and customs of the community in which 
he was reared. 

The question of the return home of the apparently cured 
patient is always a serious one; in the majority of cases, a 
permanent residence in a proper climate is essential. In cli- 
matic treatment of pulmonary diseases, it is not weeks or 
months, but often years of residence, that is required. 

Wyoming presents, in the cultivation of her soil, in the 
prospects of her mines and timber, in the pastures of her 
plains and mountains, greater opportunities for work in the 
open air, with better remuneration to the laborer, than pre- 
vail in the older states; while to those of means, exploration, 
hunting and tent life furnish enjoyable recreation. 



Such, briefly sketched, is this mountain empire — vast in 
extent, presenting the most picturesque scenery, the greatest 
charm of climate, the riches of forest, stream and mine, a 
treasure-house of untold wealth, whose unlimited possibilities 
and incalculable resources, together with the bluest and gent- 
lest of heavens bending above, invite the sick and well 
alike to come and partake of the free offering, and remain, a 
valued addition to our population. The climate is one of the 
richest endowments of Wyoming. It is exhilarating; cheers 
and braces each individual, lending character to our civil and 
industrial life, and imparting to our citizens a robustness of 
physique unequalled in any country in the entire world. 



WAGES AND COST OF LIVING. 



The conditions regulating the demand for and supply of 
labor in Wyoming are about normal, except the demand for 
laborers for railroad construction. There is also a more than 
usual demand for skilled mechanics and house servants. 

The question of the cost of living and maintaining a fam- 
ily in Wyoming, as compared with other states in the West, 
is one worthy of consideration. While wages have been but 
slightly decreased, the cost of living has been greatly reduced. 
Wages are from 30 to 50 per cent, higher than in any of the 
eastern states, while the cost of living is but slightly greater 
along the lines of railway, and not appreciably higher than 
this in the interior. 



With Board. 



WAGES AND COST OF LIVING. 73 

Below is given a table of approximate wages in the State 
at this time: 

Occupation. Wages per Day. Occupation. Wages per Month. 

Carpenters $ 2.00 to $ 3.50 Coal-miners $35.00 to $75.00 

Machinists 3.00 to 5.00 Engineers 75.00 to 125.00 

Painters 2.50 to 3.50 Agents & operators 50.00 to 115.00 

Tinners 3.00 to 3.50 Railroad brakemen 50.00 to 80.00 

Stone-cutters 3.00 to 5.00 Butchers 50.00 to 75.00 

Plasterers 3.00 to 3.50 Conductors 85.00 to 135.00 

Roustabouts 1.50 to 2.00 Locomotive firemen 65.00 to 100.00 

Miners 3.00 to 3.50 

Brick-layers 4.00 to 5.00 

Shoe-makers 2.50 to 3.50 Cow-boys $25.00 to $40.00 

Gas-fitters 3.00 to 4.00 Horse wranglers . . 20.00 to 30.00 

Day laborers 1.50 to 2.00 Farm hands 20.00 to 35.00 

Upholsterers 2.50 to 3.50 Sheep herders 30.00 to 50.00 

Cabinet-makers... 2.50 to 3.50 Teamsters 20.00 to 40.00 

Plumbers 2.50 to 5.00 Cooks 20.00 to 50.00 

Tailors 2.50 to 3.50 House servants. 

Bakers 2.00 to 3.00 men 20.00 to 35.00 

Railroad trackm en . 1 . 5 to 1.75 House servants , 
Plasterers' and women 12.00 to 35.00 

masons' helpers 2.00 Lumbermen 35.00 to 40.00 

Cost of Living. The following are about the retail 

prices, at distributing points in Wyoming, of staple articles : 

Flour, first grade, Colorado per cwt. $ 2.25 

Flour, first grade, Nebraska tl 3.75 

Flour, second grade, Nebraska " 2.50 to $ 3.00 

Potatoes " .75 to 1.60 

Beef " 6.00 to 8.00 

Mutton "" 6.00 to 8.00 

Veal lt 10.00 to 12.00 

Wheat " 1.50 to 1.75 

Corn, cracked, Nebraska " 1.00 to 1.50 

Oats " 1.00 to 1.50 

Corn meal " 1.50 to 2.00 

Sugar, granulated " 6.25 to 8.00 

Salt Liverpool lt 1.50 to 3.00 

Bacon per pound . 10 to . 12 

Lard, grocers' lt .08 to .10 

Chickens tl .15 to .20 

Turkeys l • . 18 to .25 

Kerosene per gallon .20 to .30 

Coal per ton 2.50 to 6.00 

Hay, in town ct 8.00 to 14.00 

Hay, on ranches " 2.50 to 7.00 

Lumber, native, rough per M. 16.00 to 20.00 

Lumber, first quality, planed lt 40.00 

Lumber, California or Oregon, best " 20.00 to 30.00 

Shingles, native " 2.50 to 3.00 

Shingles, Oregon " 2.75 to 4.00 

Wood, native pine per cord 5.00 to 6.00 

Clothing, dry goods and other articles easily transported 
and bearing light freight charges are but slightly higher in 
price than in the eastern and middle states. 



74 STATE OF WYOMING. 



PUBLIC LIBRARIES, 



Wyoming early made provision for the purchase and ex- 
change of valuable law books and reports. The library is in 
charge of the State Librarian, under the direction of the Jus- 
tices of the Supreme Court, and is open during the business 
hours observed by the public officers at the Capitol. The law 
library contains nearly 20,000 volumes, exclusive of the pub- 
lic laws and documents of the State. 

Of the 260,000 acres of land granted by the general Gov- 
ernment for state charitable, educational, penal and reform- 
atory institutions, in addition to special land grants for such 
purposes, 15,000 acres were set aside in 1897for the mainten- 
ance of the law library. At the present time these lands 
yield an annual income from rents of about $750, which is 
used in the purchase of new books. 

An act to increase the State Library by adding a miscel- 
laneous collection of standard books was also passed by the 
Legislature in 1897, and 15,000 acres of land set aside, the in- 
come from which is to be used in the maintenance of a mis- 
cellaneous library. The nucleus of such a library, consisting 
of several hundred volumes, has been purchased and is now 
available to the citizens of the State. Provision has also been 
made by the State for the establishment of county libraries, 
and in many counties such libraries are maintained for the 
benefit of the residents. 

Under the auspices of the Wyoming Historical Society 
have been collected many early books, papers and documents 
bearing upon the early history of Wyoming, which are open 
to inspection at the State Library. The collection of Wyoming 
minerals shown at the World's Fair, with the medals and 
diplomas awarded, are also upon exhibition at the Capitol. 



PUBLIC BUILDINGS. 



The Capitol. The Capitol Building at Cheyenne is clas- 
sical in style, bearing a resemblance in general outline to the 
Capitol at Washington. In length and breadth it is 210x112 
feet, while the dome, with a diameter of thirty feet at its 
base, rises to a height of 155 feet. The main entrance, facing 
the south, is ornamented by a broad portico, surmounted by 
two groups of Corinthian columns, above which are a cornice 



PUBLIC BUILDINGS. 75 

and gable elaborately carved and beautifully finished. The 
principal material used in the construction of the building is 
a superior quality of gray sandstone, procured from quarries 
in the vicinity of Rawlins, Carbon County. The building has 
some sixty apartments, furnishing ample room for all legis- 
lative, judicial and executive departments and the State 
Library. The total cost of the building was $292, 298.85. 

Wyoming University. The Wyoming University is 
located at Laramie and has been in successful operation since 
1887. The main building, constructed of a grayish colored 
sandstone obtained near the city of Laramie, is one of the 
handsomest structures in the State. It is four stories high, 
157 feet in length by seventy-one feet in length, and is heated 
by steam and lighted by electricity. Mechanical Hall and 
other buildings are of the same material. A building for 
a museum and library will be erected in 1900. (See article on 
Educational Advantages.) 

Fish Hatchery. The Wyoming Fish Hatchery is situ- 
ated about five miles east of Laramie, and consists of suitable 
buildings and proper apparatus for propagating and caring 
for young fish fry. The buildings are grouped around artificial 
ponds, which draw their water supply from large springs in 
the vicinity, and the institution has a capacity of 500,000 fry 
annually. Since the establishment of the hatchery, in 1884, 
there have been distributed to the several counties of the 
State 7,000,000 trout, as well as fry of other varieties of game 
fish. There are also branch hatcheries located in Sheridan 
and Crook counties. 

Penitentiary. Wyoming has two penitentiaries, one 
situated at Laramie, and one at Rawlins. The penitentiary 
at Laramie was formerly owned by the Government, but was 
transferred to the State upon the admission of Wyoming to 
the sisterhood of states. It is capable of accommodating 
from 175 to 190 inmates. The Penitentiary at Rawlins has 
not, up to this time, been occupied, but all convicts will be 
removed from Laramie on or before July 1st, 1900. It is con- 
structed of the fine sandstone found near the town of Rawlins, 
and there has been expended in its erection, up to the present 
date, $102,845.82. 

Poor Farm. Wyoming is in possession of a poor farm, 
situated at the town of Lander, which cost $5,053.39. Owing 
to the fact that the State has no poor, the farm has been 
rented, and the proceeds applied to its improvement, so far as 
necessary, and the remainder allowed to accumulate as a 
fund for future use. 

Deaf, Dumb and Blind Asylum. An asylum for the 
education of the deaf, dumb and blind was erected some 
years ago at the city of Cheyenne, but owing to the small 
number of pupils seeking admission to the same, they were 
provided for in other institutions. The building has been 
converted into a State Soldiers' and Sailors' Home, and its 



76 STATE OF WYOMING. 

commodious quarters now furnish a pleasant home for such 
veterans of our wars as are dependent upon the State for sup- 
port in their declining years. There has been expended upon 
this building the sum of $11,879.05. 

Insane Asylum. The Wyoming State Hospital for the 
Insane was erected in the town of Evanston and opened for 
inmates in the year 1888. It cost the sum of $66,667.66. It is 
under the care of a competent physician, and has been one 
of the most successful institutions in the State in compassing 
the ends for which it was erected. An additional wing will 
be built in 1900. 

Hospital. The Wyoming General Hospital was built in 
the city of Rock Springs during the years 1893-4, at a cost of 
$28,204.64, but it was destroyed by fire in the month of Janu- 
ary, 1897, and rebuilt during the same year. It is modern in 
its arrangement and equipment, is under the supervision of 
competent surgical authority, and is so located as to be of 
great value to the mining population of the State in times of 
emergency. An addition will be constructed in 1900. 



EDUCATIONAL ADVANTAGES. 



The State of Wyoming is notable for the educational ad- 
vantages it gives the children of its citizens. In educational 
matters it leads many of the older states, in that it employs a 
larger number of teachers in proportion to its population; that 
its school year is longer; that the salaries paid its teachers, 
especially those paid women teachers, are higher, and that 
its school methods are at all times kept in unison and har- 
mony with the latest and best in modern education. 

The amount of funds raised in Wyoming for school pur- 
poses by voluntary taxation is liberal, and expenditures in 
educational matters are not stinted. The Legislature of 1899 
passed an act authorizing the district school boards to provide 
free text-books for all pupils in the public schools. The latest 
and most approved text-books will be purchased and supplied 
to every school district in the State by September, 1899. The 
result of this liberality and of the careful attention given the 
schools of the State by its citizens and school officers has been 
to keep the percentage of illiteracy in Wyoming to a nominal 
figure. A practical illustration of this was shown at the re- 
cent muster of troops in the State for service in the Spanish 
War. Of one thousand young men who enlisted in Wyoming 
not one was unable to sign his name to the muster roils, and 
every man had received a fair education. 

There are 13,042 pupils enrolled in the public schools of 




MAIN BUILDING, WYOMING UNIVERSITY. 



EDUCATIONAL ADVANTAGES. 77 

the State. These are in attendance in 495 schools. Omitting 
the city schools, the average attendaDce is ten pupils. 
Sparsely settled communities in Wyoming enjoy equal school 
facilities with more thickly settled regions. It is the universal 
custom in the State to establish a school if five pupils can at- 
tend. The result is that practically all children of school age 
in the State have an opportunity to attend school. A compul- 
sory school law is on the statute books, but it has never been 
found necessary to enforce it, as school attendance is volun- 
tary. 

The number of teachers employed in the State is 536. 
The salaries paid teachers in Wyoming average $60.40 per 
month for male teachers, and $42.86 for female, which, when 
it is considered that the country schools of the State form the 
great majority of the entire number, compare most favorably 
with salaries paid in other states. 

The 338 school buildings of the State are generally well 
built and comfortable. The cost of construction has been up- 
ward of half a million dollars, while repairs and improve- 
ments amounting to ten thousand dollars are made annually. 
As the sparsely settled communities of the State grow, the 
primitive log building which at first constitutes the school 
house gives place to the neat frame or brick structure with 
all the modern apparatus for successful educational work. 

The State Superintendent has prepared a uniform course 
of instruction for the graded and ungraded schools of the en- 
tire State. This has served to systematize the work of teach- 
ers and county superintendents, and has added materially to 
the effectiveness of the service. 

One ,of the most valuable aids to the support and main- 
tenance of the public school system in Wyoming is the fund 
received annually from the rental of school lands. During 
the year ending September 30th, 1898, the sum of $15,357.80 
was received from this source and distributed to the school 
officers of each county in proportion to the number of pupils 
in each. The total acreage of school land in the State which 
may be utilized for this purpose is 3,600,000 acres. 

It may reasonably be expected that sufficient income will 
be received from the rental of school lands within the near 
future to increase the efficiency of the schools of the State to 
the highest degree, and this without imposing additional bur- 
dens upon the tax-payer. 

THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF WYOMING. 

Wyoming has always been deeply interested in the edu- 
cation of her youth. Even before statehood had been con- 
ferred, she had crowned the structure of her public education 
with a University untrammeled by sectarian control. The 
foundation of the University of Wyoming was a bill passed 
by the Ninth Legislature of the Territory. Under that act 
the Governor appointed a Building Commission, which went 



78 STATE OF WYOMING. 

promptly to work. The University was opened to students 
in the fall of 1887, and has been growing in attendance, fac- 
ulty and equipment ever since. 

From the time of opening there has been a College of 
Liberal Arts and a Preparatory School. In 1891 the depart- 
ments of Agriculture, Mechanical Engineering and Normal 
Instruction were expanded into full schools. A School of 
Mines and a School of Military Science were founded the fol- 
lowing year, and a School of Music made its appearance in 
1895. Moreover, in all colleges of the University students of 
mature years are permitted to pursue, under the direction of 
the Faculty, one or two distinct lines of study. Eegular 
graduate subjects are offered. 

The courses have all been thoroughly revised and are 
now of equal excellence with those of the best colleges and 
technical schools in the country. Several alumni of the Uni- 
versity have been admitted by large universities to work for 
higher degrees on the same terms as their own graduates. 

Two literary clubs have been organized by the students. 
Music, essays, readings, a journal and a debate form part of 
the program at each meeting of these societies. Another as- 
sociation, where debating is the prominent feature, has also 
been established. An English Club meets once a week with 
the professor of English for the reading and discussion of the 
English classics. Besides the orchestra, the students main- 
tain a brass band, a glee club, and a choral society. A cam- 
era club, various scientific societies and a flourishing athletic 
association complete the list of student organizations. A 
University Extension Association has been established by the 
Faculty, and the professors are always ready to deliver 
courses or single lectures without charge. An appropriation 
for a building for a museum and chemical laboratory has been 
made, and the building will be constructed in 1900. 

The cost of living in Laramie depends upon the habits of 
the individual, but is, in most cases, very reasonable. Young 
men who join the University Boarding Club can bring their 
entire expenses down to fourteen dollars a month. While 
the University cannot promise employment to all who desire 
to earn their own living, those who wish to find work are 
generally successful, and the President is ready to aid all 
students in securing work as far as it is possible. 



BANKS AND INTEREST. 79 

BANKS AND INTEREST. 



In all the larger towns of the State are located national 
banks, while in the smaller towns are found banks, incorpor- 
ated under the state law or operating as private banks. The 
legal rate of interest is 8 per cent., but any rate agreed upon, 
not exceeding 12 per cent, per annum, is valid. The bank 
rate on time deposits is 4 per cent. Bank loan rate, 10 and 12 
per cent. 

The following is a list of the banks now doing business 
in the State : 

Name Location Capital 

National Banks — 

Stock Growers National Bank Cheyenne $100,000.00 

First National Bank of Cheyenne Cheyenne 100,000.00 

First National Bank of Laramie Laramie 100,000.00 

Albany County National Bank Laramie 100,000.00 

First National Bank of Buffalo Buffalo 100,000.00 

First National Bank of Rawlins Rawlins 75,000.00 

First National Bank of Douglas Douglas 75,000.00 

First National Bank of Rock Springs . .Rock Springs. . . . 60,000.00 

Rock Springs National Bank Rock Springs. . . . 50.000.00 

First National Bank of Lander Lander 50,000.00 

First National Bank of Sheridan Sheridan 50,000.00 

State Banks — 

Rawlins State Bank Rawlins $50,000.00 

Bank of Commerce Sheridan 30,000.00 

Bank of Newcastle Newcastle 20,000.00 

Carbon State Bank Carbon 12,000.00 

Morris State Bank Green River 10,000.00 

Sheridan Banking Company Sheridan 10,000.00 

Saratoga State Bank Saratoga 10,000.00 

Big Horn County Bank Basin 10,000.00 

Private Banks — 

Beckwith & Company Evanston $78,000.00 

North & Stone Evanston 35,000.00 

Noble, Lane & Noble Lander 23,000.00 

J. W. Rogers Sundance 15,000.00 

E. Amoretti & Company Thermopolis 10,000.00 

W. A. Denecke & Company Casper 5,016.66 

Richards, Cunningham & Company. . . Casper 5,000.00 

Frank Brothers Sundance 5,000.00 

Stewart Brothers Wheatland 5,000.00 

Richards & Callandar Lusk 3,500.00 

In addition to the banks above named, whose transactions 
are mainly for commercial purposes, there have been estab- 
lished in all of the larger towns building and loan associations, 
and in all of the towns of the State real estate loans are made 
both by local building and loan associations and by foreign 
associations of the same character, and are also negotiated 
through the medium of real estate brokers. 



80 STATE OF WYOMING. 



CORPORATIONS-FEES. 



Under the laws of Wyoming any three or more persons 
may unite for the purpose of incorporating a stock company, 
by making, signing and acknowledging before some officer 
competent to take acknowledgments of deeds, duplicate cer- 
tificates in writing, in which shall be stated the corporate 
name of the company, the object for which formed, the 
amount of capital stock, the term of existence, not to exceed 
fifty years, the number of shares, the number and names of 
the trustees, not more than nine in number, and not less than 
three, who shall manage the concerns of the company for the 
first year, and the name of the town and county in which 
operations shall be carried on; and shall file one of said cer- 
tificates in the office of the county clerk of each county 
wherein the business of the company is to be carried on, and 
one in the office of the Secretary of State, paying in advance 
to such officers the following fees : To the Secretary of State 
for filing and recording certificates of incorporation — 

When capital stock does not exceed $5,000 $ 5.00 

When capital stock exceeds $5,000, but does not exceed 

$100,000 10.00 

When capital stock exceeds $100,000, the sum of $10.00, 

and 5 cts. additional for each $1,000 in excess of $100,000 

To the Secretary of State for filing and recording articles 
of incorporation of companies not organized for profit and 
having no capital stock, the following: 

For filing each paper $1.00 

For recording the first folio of one hundred words 1.00 

For recording each subsequent folio or fraction 15 

To the county clerk for filing and recording any certificate 
of incorporation, ninety cents for the first folio, and ten cents 
for each additional folio of one hundred words. 

FOREIGN CORPORATIONS. 

Before transacting business in the State, a foreign corpo- 
ration is required to file, in the office of the Secretary of State 
and with the county clerk of the county in which the business 
is to be done, a certified copy of its articles of incorporation, 
together with a certified copy of the general incorporation 
law under which organized, and to pay the same fees as re- 
quired of domestic corporations. A foreign corporation is 
also required to file an acceptance of the Constitution. 

A penalty of $1,000 is imposed upon conviction of a cor- 
poration failing to comply with this law. 



TAXES AND PUBLIC INDEBTEDNESS. 81 



TAXES AND PUBLIC INDEBTEDNESS. 



The wise restrictions in the State Constitution are a sure 
guarantee that in Wyoming taxation will never be excessive, 
or the public debt burdensome. It is there provided that for 
state revenue there shall not be levied to exceed four mills on 
the dollar of the assessed value of property for all state pur- 
poses, except for the payment of the public debt with interest, 
and the support of state educational and charitable institu- 
tions, and not to exceed twelve mills on the dollar for all 
county purposes excepting the county debt. Special school 
taxes may be authorized by the qualified voters of the several 
districts. v 

Incorporated cities and towns are limited to eight mills 
on the dollar, excepting for the payment of their public debt. 

The state debt is limited to one per cent, of the assessed 
valuation, while two per cent, is the limit on counties, cities 
and towns. 

The tax levy for all state purposes in the year 1898 was 
five and one-fourth mills, while the county levies for the same 
year averaged about fourteen mills for all purposes. The 
1898 tax is a fair index of past years. 

The state revenue is derived from taxes, official fees and 
rent of public lands. All public officers are paid fixed sala- 
ries, and the fees collected by them are paid into the public 
treasury, thus realizing annually to the public a large sum ; 
in fact, nearly every officer collects a sum equal to the ex- 
pense of his department. From the rent of public lands a 
large revenue is derived, which is used for the support of cer- 
tain state institutions and the schools. 

The legislative body is composed of a total of fifty-seven 
members, who receive five dollars per day for a biennial ses- 
sion limited to forty days. All other official salaries are mod- 
erate, none exceeding $3,000, and general state and county 
'expenses have been reduced to a minimum. The plan of 
making each department of of state and county government 
and every public institution self-supporting has been count- 
enanced and authorized by wise legislation. 

There is nothing in the present situation to indicate that 
the rate of taxation in Wyoming will increase, but, on the 
contrary, reasonable expectation that with settlement and 
development will come a corresponding increase of taxable 
wealth to carry its proportionate share of governmental ex- 
pense, thus reducing the general levy. 

The total bonded debt of the State is $320,000, while that 
of the counties varies and may be ascertained from the arti- 
cles on each individual county. 



82 



STATE OF WYOMING. 
ASSESSED VALUATION OF PROPERTY. 



PROPERTY ASSESSED 



Value in U 



Value in IS 



Railroad and Car Companies 1 Property . . 

Telegraph Lines 

Lands and Improvements 

Town Lots and Improvements 

Cattle '..' 

Horses 

Mules and Asses 

Sheep and Goats „ 

Swine and Dogs 

Clocks, Watches and Jewelry , 

Musical Instruments 

Capital in Merchandise and Manufactures 

Carriages and Wagons , 

Moneys and Credits after Deducting Debts , 

Stock in Corporations , 

Farming Utensils and Mechanics 1 Tools. . , 

Private Libraries 

Household Furniture ($100 exempt) 

Other property not herein enumerated 



Totals 
Net gain 



Totals 



7,541,623.50$ 

98, 570.00J 

6,893,626.12| 

5,302,036.34 

4,020,548.001 

1,038,027.00] 

51,124.00 

2,506,286.00 

20,870.35 

32,697.26 

58,643.00 

1,467,822.00 

217,304.16 

413,001.00 

61.365.00 

133,766.00 

19,130.00 

88,013.63 

366,008.95 



7,227,282.25 

103,353.75 

6,882,220.80 

5,405,973.50 

4,361,843.00 

1,106,293.00 

40,335.00 

2,913,164.95 

18,860.75 

29,573.75 

59,103.50 

1,231,291.00 

241,404.75 

465,131.24 

95,980.00 

155,620.50 

18,362.00 

81,819.00 

351,679.00 



$30,300,462.31 

488,829.43 



$30,789,291.74 



$30, 789,291. 74|$30, 789, 291. 74 



SUFFRAGE. 



Under the Constitution of the State, the right of citizens 
to vote and hold office cannot be abridged on account of sex, 
and male and female citizens enjoy equally all civil, political 
and religious rights and privileges. Before voting, electors 
must have resided in the State one year, within the county 
sixty days and within the precinct thirty days, and must be 
able to read the State Constitution in the English language, 
unless unable from physical disability to do so. All balloting 
is by the Australian system, and elections are invariably 
quiet and orderly. The question is frequently asked whether 
the women of the State participate in the elections. A care- 
ful compilation of the votes cast on the third of November, 
1896, shows that of the total number of votes cast, 33 per cent, 
were cast by women. The right to vote for territorial offices 
was granted to women December 10, 1869, and the same priv- 
ilege was incorporated in the State Constitution, with the re- 
sult that the women of Wyoming to-day enjoy the same 
rights of suffrage as do the men, voting for all officers, both 
federal and state. 



RAILROAD AND STAGE ROUTES. 83 



RAILROAD AND STAGE ROUTES. 



Tourists, passing through Wyoming, see little of the agri- 
cultural portion of the State, as the railroads, for the most 
part, run through the open plains and on the divides between 
water courses, while the farming settlements, as in all semi- 
arid regions, are in the valleys of the rivers and. creeks. The 
Union Pacific Railroad passes across the southern portion 
of the State, having 499.55 miles of main track. The 
Cheyenne & Northern branch of the Colorado & Southern 
Railroad has 153.08 miles of road, running from Cheyenne to 
Orin and forming a link between the Union Pacific and Bur- 
lington at Cheyenne and the Northwestern system at Orin. 
The Wyoming Central branch of the Northwestern has a 
trackage of 130.43 miles in Wyoming, and runs from its junc- 
tion with another branch of the same system at Chadron to 
its terminus at Casper, Wyoming. The Oregon Short Line 
Railroad has 99.34 miles of main line track, running from its 
junction with the Union Pacific at Granger to a junction with 
other branches of its system at Pocatello, Idaho. The Bur- 
lington & Missouri River Railroad Company has two branches 
entering Wyoming, twenty-nine miles of the Cheyenne and 
Holdrege line and 236.59 miles of the line from Lincoln, Ne- 
braska, to Billings, Montana, where it connects with the 
Northern Pacific. 

Stage lines leave the Union Pacific and run from Laramie 
to North Park, Colorado, and surrounding mining camps; 
from Ft. Steele through Saratoga, Grand Encampment and 
the Upper Platte Valley to North Park, Colorado ; from Raw- 
lins to Lander and Fort Washakie, with connecting routes to 
the smaller post-offices in Central Wyoming and the Big Horn 
Basin. Another line runs from Casper to Central Wyoming, 
by way of Thermopolis, Lander and post-offices in the Big 
Horn Basin. Other lines run from Moorcroft to Sundance, 
Clearmont to Buffalo, and Sheridan to points in the Big Horn 
Basin. In order to reach the extreme western portion of the 
State, comprising Star Valley and the Jackson Lake region, 
in Uinta County, it is customary to enter the State from the 
Idaho side, although hunting parties also outfit at Evanston, 
Opal or Green River, and enter this district from the south. 

In addition to the lines of the Western Union Telegraph 
Company, which follow the railroads, telegraph lines run 
from Rawlins to Lander and from Clearmont to Buffalo. 
Telephone lines run from Cheyenne to Laramie; Ft. Steele to 
Saratoga; Big Horn to Sheridan; and one is now under con- 
struction from Opal to Big Piney. 

During 1898, a corporation by the name of the Wyoming 
& Missouri Valley Railroad Company constructed eighteen 



84 STATE OF WYOMING. 

miles of road from Belle Fourche to a point near Barrett post 
office, in Crook County, tapping fields of bituminous coal at 
a point near Aladdin. The Wyoming, Nebraska & Western 
has under construction a line of road extending from Alliance, 
Nebraska, into Laramie County, to tap the Hartville iron 
mines, which it is expected will eventually be constructed 
across Wyoming. The Union Pacific Eailroad Company is 
now building forty miles of new track, in order to straighten 
its main line and reduce the grades. A branch of the Colo- 
rado & Southern road is now being built from a point near 
Badger in Laramie County, to tap the iron mines of Hartville. 



STATE LANDS. 



HOW THEY MAY BE ACQUIRED. 

There are two classes of state lands: 

First — Those donated to the State for various public pur- 
poses, and over which the State has absolute control. 

Second — Those known as "arid lands 1 ', whose donation 
to the State is conditional upon their reclamation. 

Under the provisions of the Constitution and statutes, 
the State Board of Land Commissioners, consisting of the 
Governor, Secretary of State and Superintendent of Public 
Instruction, have the direction, control, disposition and care 
of all lands granted to the State. 

MAY BE SOLD. 

The act of admission provides that all school lands, in- 
cluding the grant for the use of the Agricultural College, 
shall be sold for not less than ten dollars per acre. The Con- 
stitution provides further that lands heretofore and hereafter 
acquired shall be sold for not less than ten dollars per acre, 
and that such lands shall be disposed of at public auction, 
providing also that actual and bona fide settlers shall have 
the preference right to purchase in tracts not exceeding 1G0 
acres. 

MAY BE LEASED. 

The State Board of Land Commissioners lease any legal 
subdivision of the lands of the State at an annual rental not 
less than five per cent, of the valuation thereof, fixed by the 
Board, conditioned upon the payment of the rent annually 
and in advance, and for periods of not more than five years. 
When any lease expires by limitation, the lessee may, with 
the permission of the Board, renew the same, as follows : At 
any time within ninety days next preceding the expiration of 



STATE LANDS. 85 

the lease, the lessee or his assigns shall notify the Register of 
his or their desire to renew the lease. If the lessee and the 
Board be agreed as to tha valuation of the land, a new lease 
shall be issued, bearing even date with the expiration of the 
old one, and upon like conditions. 

The power given to the Board to refuse to renew a lease, 
or to sell state land at the expiration of a lease, or again, to 
lease to other parties than the original lessee, shall not apply 
whenever the original lessee of the state lands, or his assigns, 
shall have, during the period of his lease, or prior thereto, re- 
claimed the same by irrigation, and shall have provided suit- 
able ditches for its full and complete reclamation, and shall 
have secured an adequate and perpetual water supply for said 
land ; then in that case the original lessee shall have the right 
to renew such lease for a term of five years, which renewal 
may be repeated for the same period five years thereafter, 
and may again be repeated for the same period ten years 
thereafter, making a total period not to exceed twenty years; 
provided, that each of said renewals shall be dependent upon 
the continuous irrigation and cultivation of at least forty 
acres in every 160 of said land, and in case the lessee shall 
have failed to cultivate the said land, then said Board shall 
have the authority to refuse to renew the lease, as hereinbe- 
fore provided. 

The lessee of state lands is prohibited, in all cases, from 
cutting or using more of the timber thereon than shall be 
necessary for the improvement of such lands, or for fuel for 
use of the family of the lessee, and from cutting and hauling 
of timber from leased state lands to saw-mills. 

Any lease of state lands procured by fraud, deceit or mis- 
representation may be cancelled by the Board upon proper 
proof thereof. 

The necessary blanks will be supplied any person desir- 
ing to lease state lands upon application to the Register of 
the State Board of Land Commissioners. 



The Act of Congress, approved August 18, 1894, donated 
to the State of Wyoming, conditional upon its reclamation, 
1,000,000 acres of arid land. The State of Wyoming accepted 
the conditions of the grant, and by Chapter 38 of the Session 
Laws of 1805, as amended by Chapter 6, Laws of 1899, pro- 
vided for its reclamation, occupation and disposal. The gen- 
eral provisions of this law are as follows: 

Request and Proposal. Any person or company of persons, hav- 
ing constructed or desiring to construct ditches, canals or other irrigation 
works to reclaim land under the provisions of this act, shall file with the 
State Board of Land Commissioners a request for the selection of the land 
to be reclaimed, and accompany this request by a proposal to construct 
the ditch, canal or other irrigation works necessary for the complete recla- 

7 



86 STATE OF WYOMING. 

mation of the land asked to be selected, and shall make clear to the Board 
their financial ability to carry out the proposed undertaking. 

Guarantee. A certified, check for such sum as may be determined 
by the Board shall accompany each request and proposal, as a guarantee 
that a contract with the State will be entered into according to its terms. 

Maps and Field Notes. An accurate survey must be made, and 
maps and field notes furnished the Board, in accordance with its regula- 
tions, with a certified copy of a permit from the State Engineer to appro- 
priate water for the reclamation of the land described. 

Terms of Contract with State for Construction — With Set- 
tler for Land and Water — Bond. Upon the withdrawal of the land 
by the Department of the Interior, it shall be the duty of the Board to 
enter into a contract with the parties submitting the proposal, which con- 
tract shall contain complete specifications of the location, dimensions, 
character and estimated cost of the proposed ditch, canal or other irrigation 
works; the price per acre and terms at which such works and perpetual 
water rights shall be sold to settlers ; Provided, that such price and terms 
for irrigation works and water rights shall in all cases be reasonable and 
just. 

This contract shall not be entered into on the part of the State until a 
satisfactory bond is filed by the proposed contractor for irrigation works, 
which bond shall be in a penal sum equal to five per cent, of the estimated 
cost of the works. 

Time Allowed for Construction. No contract shall be made by 
the Board which requires a greater time than five years for the construc- 
tion of the works, and all contracts shall state that the work shall begin 
within six months from date of contract; that at least one-tenth of the 
construction work shall be completed within two years from the date of 
said contract; and that construction shall be prosecuted diligently and 
continuously to completion. Upon failure of contractors to complete 
ditch or canal under contract, the Land Board may sell any such incom- 
plete works at auction. 

Application for Entry— Cost of Lands. Any citizen of the Uni- 
ted States, or any person having declared his intention to become a citizen 
of the United States (excepting married women not the heads of families), 
over the age of twenty-one years, may make application, under oath, to 
the Board, to enter any of said land in any amount not to exceed 160 
acres for any one person. Such application must be accompanied by a 
certified copy of a contract for a perpetual water right, made and entered 
into by the person making application with the person, company or asso- 
ciation who have been authorized by the Board to furnish water for the 
reclamation of said lands. All applications for entry shall be accompanied 
by a payment of twenty-five cents per acre, which shall be paid as a par- 
tial payment on the land, if the application is allowed. If the application 
is not allowed, the twenty-five cents per acre accompanying it shall be re- 
turned to the applicant; Provided, That where the construction company 
fails to furnish water to any settler under the provisions of its contract 
with the State, the State shall refund to such settler all payments that he 
shall have made to the State. The Board shall dispose of all lands ac- 
cepted under the provisions of this act at a uniform price of fifty cents per 
acre, half to be paid at the time of entry and the remainder at the time of 
making final proof by the settler. 

Reclamation — When to Begin — Final Proof. Within one year 
after any person or company of persons authorized to construct irrigation 
works under the provisions of this act shall have notified the settlers under 
such works that they are prepared to furnish water under the terms of 
their contract with the State, the said settler shall cultivate and reclaim 



WATER. 8? 

not less than one-sixteenth part of the land filed u£>on, and within two 
years after the said notice the settler shall have actually irrigated and cul- 
tivated not less than one-eighth of the land filled upon, and within three 
years from the date of said notice the settler shall make final proof of rec- 
lamation, settlement and occupation, which proof shall embrace evidence 
that he has a perpetual water right for his entire tract of land sufficient 
in volume for the complete irrigation and reclamation thereof, and that 
he is an actual settler thereon. 

Patents — Water Rights Appurtenant. The water rights to all 
lands acquired under the provisions of this act shall attach to and become 
appurtenant to the land as soon as title passes from the United States to 
the State. 

Fees. The Board shall collect the following fees: For filing each 
application, one dollar; for filing each final proof, one dollar; for issuing 
each patent, one dollar; for making certified copies of papers or records, 
the same fee as provided for to be charged by the Secretary of State for 
like services. The money collected for fees shall be paid to the Treasurer 
of the State, and by him credited to the fund created by virtue of this act. 

The State Board of Land Commissioners has submitted a 
report to the Governor, describing in full the operations under 
the act, with a compilation of the statutes, rules and regula- 
tions relating thereto, a copy of which will be mailed to those 
interested, upon application to the Chief Clerk. 



WATER. 



HOW TO SECURE WATER FOR IRRIGATION AND OTHER BENE- 
FICIAL USES. 

As the future agricultural development of the State rests 
largely upon the prudent and economical use and distribution 
of its water supply, it has been deemed a wise step to estab- 
lish a state department under an efficient officer, the State 
Engineer, who exercises, through a Board of Control, careful 
supervision of the use and distribution of the waters of the 
State. From this department have been issued to persons 
desiring to apply for permits to appropriate water, brief in- 
structions, of which the following is a copy : 

APPLICATIONS. 

Applications must be made upon the blank form approved 
by the State Engineer. Applications to enlarge existing 
ditches, or to increase the acreage watered therefrom, must 
be made on an enlargement blank. In giving dimensions, 
remember the following : 

"Width on top" is the width at surface water line. Depth 
is the depth of water the ditch or canal is to carry. 



88 STATE OF WYOMING. 

The area to be irrigated must be given ; where not meas- 
ured an estimate must be made, and where only part of a 
subdivision is to be watered, the estimate must give the acre- 
age in each forty acres of these fractional subdivisions. 

The law requires applications to be made and approved 
by the State Engineer before work begins. No application 
which states that work has begun or has been completed will 
be approved. 

MAPS. 

Each application must be accompanied by two maps, one 
of which must be on tracing linen. 

These maps must be drawn to a scale of two inches to 
the mile, or larger, and on sheets not less than six by nine 
inches. 

They must show the location of the headgate by courses 
and distances from some Government corner. They must 
show the actual location of the ditch or canal, and where 
Government survey lines are crossed, the distance to the 
nearest corner must be given. (Where corners cannot be 
found, give the location of line by courses and distances. 

The map must show the course and name of the stream 
from which water is taken ; the location and area of land to 
be irrigated, or place where water is to be used for other pur- 
poses. (This may be done by marking the boundaries or by 
coloring the areas.) 

Wherever the canal line crosses streams or other ditches, 
the location of such crossings must be shown, and such inter- 
secting streams and ditches must be marked by ink of a dif- 
ferent color. 

Maps must contain the name of the ditch, canal or reser- 
voir, and the postoffice of the surveyor, with date of survey. 

RESERVOIRS AND DAMS. 

Plans of dams, cribs or embankments must be drawn on 
a longitudinal scale of not less than one inch to one hundred 
feet, and for cross-sections, of not less than one inch to four 
feet. The plans for outlet and w^aste-ways for reservoirs 
shall be drawn on a scale of one inch to four feet. 

The maps of reservoirs shall show the total area to be 
submerged, and enough levels to permit of computing its 
capacity. 

FEES. 

For filing and examining applications for permits to ap- 
propriate water, two dollars. 

For recording statements of claim, one dollar and fifty 
cents. 

For recording applications for reservoir permits, one 
dollar. 

For recording any other water right instrument — for the 



GOVERNMENT LANDS. 89 

first one hundred words, one dollar; for each subsequent 
folio, fifteen cents. 

For issuing certificates of appropriation, one dollar. 

For making certified copies of record, fifteen cts. per folio. 

For attaching certificate, one dollar. 



GOVERNMENT LANDS. 



The area of Wyoming is 97,883 square miles, or 02,645,120 
acres. Of this vast area 51,890,201 acres are surveyed, and 
10,754,919 acres are unsurveyed. 

The public lands vacant and subject to entry and settle- 
ment imthe State, according to the last report received from 
the United States General Land Office, were: Surveyed 
lands, 42,173,839 acres; unsurveyed, 7,167,744 acres; total, 
49,341,583 acres. 

The unappropriated lands of the United States in the 
State of Wyoming, as comprised in the several counties, are, 
in acres: Albany, 1,746,076; Big Horn, 6,533,060; Carbon, 
3,683,868; Converse, 4,051,949; Crook, 3,099,527; Fremont, 
5,683,126; Laramie, 2,892,293; Johnson, 2,432,422; Natrona, 
3,311,466; Sheridan, 1,313,138; Sweetwater, 6,406,249; Uinta, 
5,603,264; Weston, 2,579,147. 

The public lands in Wyoming consist chiefly of grazing, 
timber and agricultural land, though there are large areas of 
coal, oil and mineral lands. 

The agricultural lands are those lying contiguous to the 
rivers and streams and are vast in extent, but crops cannot 
be successfully raised without irrigation. By the application 
of water the soil is rendered very productive,, and is not sur- 
passed by the fertile states of the Mississippi and Missouri 
valleys. 

The laws under which title to Government land may be 
acquired by citizens of the United States are the homestead 
law, the desert land law, the timber and stone law, and the 
coal and mineral laws. 

HOMESTEAD LAW. 

The homestead law secures to qualified persons the right 
to settle upon, enter and acquire title to not exceeding one 
quarter section (160 acres) of public land, by establishing and 
maintaining residence thereon and improving and cultivating 
the land for the period of five years. A homestead entryman 
must be the head of a family, or a person who has arrived at 
the age of twenty-one years. He must be a citizen of the 
United States, or one who has declared his intention to be- 
come such, as required by the naturalization laws. The act 



90 



STATE OF WYOMING. 



of March 3, 1891, attaches' the condition that he must not be 
the proprietor of more than 160 acres of land in any state or 
territory. 

The class of lands subject to entry under the homestead 
laws are described by the statutes as unappropriated public 
lands. Parties who are prevented by reason of distance, bod- 
ily infirmity or other good cause from personal attendance at 
the district land office may make the preliminary affidavits 
for homestead entries within the county in which they reside, 
before any commissioner of the United States Court having 
jurisdiction over the county in which the land is situated, or 
before the judge or clerk of any court of record of such coun- 
ty, transmitting the same, with their application and the 
proper fees and commissions, to the Register and Receiver of 
the district land office, thus permitting entries to be made 
without personal attendance at the district office. Applicants 
availing themselves of this privilege are required to transmit 
with their applications an affidavit setting forth specifically 
why they cannot appear at the land office. 

Where a wife has been divorced from her husband or de- 
serted, so that she is dependent upon her own resources for 
support, she can make a homestead entry as the head of a 
family or femme sole. 

A single woman who makes a homestead entry and mar- 
ries before making proof does not forfeit her right, provided 
she does not abandon her residence on the land to reside else- 
where. Where two parties, however, unite in marriage, each 
having an unperfected homestead entry, both entries cannot 
be carried to patent. A residence elsewhere than on the land 
entered for more than six months is treated as an abandon- 
ment of a homestead entry. 

Parties desiring to commute their homestead entries to 
cash are required to make proof of settlement and of resi- 
dence and cultivation of the land for a period of fourteen 
months from the date of entry. 

There are many other provisions relating to restoration 
of rights, adjoining homesteads, soldiers' and sailors' home- 
stead rights, additional entries, etc., too numerous to mention 
in the space of this brief article. 

The following is a table of fees and commissions charged 
in the mountain states : 





Class 
of Lands 


Commissions. 


Fee 




Acres 

i 


Payable when 
Entry is Made 


Payable when 
Certificate 

Issues 


Payable when 
Entry is Made 


Total Sum 


160 

80 


$2.50 
2.50 


$12.00 
6.00 


$12.00 
6.00 


$10.00 
5.00 


$34.00 
17.00 


40 


2.50 


3.00 


3.00 


5.00 


11.00 


160 ! 


1.25 


6.00 


6.00 


10.00 


22.00 


80 j 


1.25 


3.00 


3.00 


5.00. 


11.00 


40 


1.25 


1.50 


1.50 


5.00 


8.00 



GOVERNMENT LANDS. 91 

DESERT LANDS. 

All lands, exclusive of timber lands and mineral lands, 
which will not, without artificial irrigation, produce some 
agricultural crop, are deemed desert lands, and are subject to 
entry under the desert land law. The party making entry is 
required at the time of filing his declaration to file also a map 
of the land, which will exhibit a plan showing the mode of 
contemplated irrigation, which plan shall be sufficient to 
thoroughly irrigate and reclaim said land and prepare it to 
raise ordinary agricultural crops. Persons may associate 
together in the construction of canals and ditches for irrigat- 
ing and reclaiming tracts entered or proposed to be entered 
by them, and they may file a joint map, or maps, showing 
their plan of internal improvements. No person is permitted 
to enter more than 320 acres of land in the aggregate under 
all the land laws of the United States, mineral lands except- 
ed. Parties initiating desert claims are required to show ob- 
servance of such inhibition. 

The right to make desert land entries is restricted to res- 
ident citizens of the State in which the land sought is located. 
Citizenship and residence must be duly shown. The entry- 
man must expend at least three dollars per acre, one dollar 
per acre during each year for three years, and must file proof 
thereof during each year, such proof to consist of his affidavit, 
corroborated by the affidavits of two or more witnesses, 
showing that the full sum of one dollar per acre has been ex- 
pended during such year and the manner in which expended, 
and at the expiration of three years a map or plan showing 
the character and extent of the improvements. 

Failure to file the required proof during any year shall 
cause the land to revert to the United States, the money paid 
to be forfeited and the entry to be canceled. The party may 
make his final entry and receive his patent at any time prior 
to the expiration of three years by making required proof of 
reclamation and of the expenditure of the aggregate amount 
of three dollars per acre, and of the cultivation of one-eighth 
of the land. Persons making desert land entries must acquire 
clear right to the use of sufficient water for the purpose of 
irrigating the whole of the land, and of keeping it permanent- 
ly irrigated. Persons making desert land entries before they 
have secured a water right do so at their own risk. The 
price of land sought to be entered under the provisions of the 
desert land act is $1.25 per acre, without regard to the situa- 
tion of the lands in relation to railroad grants. When proof 
of the character of the land has been made, the applicant will 
pay the Receiver twenty-five cents per acre for the land ap- 
plied for. At the time of making final proof the payment of 
one dollar per acre is required. 



92 STATE OF WYOMING. 



TIMBER AND STONE ENTRIES. 

The act of June 3, 1878, provides that surveyed lands in 
the public land states, valuable chiefly for timber and stone, 
unfit for cultivation and consequently unfit for disposal under 
the homestead and desert land laws, may be purchased by 
individuals and by associations at the minimum price of two 
dollars and fifty cents per acre. A party making application 
to purchase a tract of this character is required to make affi- 
davit that he is a citizen of the United States by birth or nat- 
uralization, or that he has declared his intention to become a 
citizen under the naturalization laws. The quantity of land 
which may be acquired lawfully under said act by any one 
person or association is limited -to not exceeding 160 acres, 
which must be in one body. 

COAL. 

A qualified person has the right to enter by legal sub- 
division any quantity of coal lands in the United States not 
otherwise appropriated or reserved by competent authority, 
not exceeding 160 acres to such individual person or 320 acres 
to an association, upon payment to the Government of not 
less than ten dollars per acre for such lands, where the same 
shall be situated more than fifteen miles from any completed 
railroad, and not less than twenty dollars per acre for such 
lands as shall be within fifteen miles of such road. A party 
or association having opened and improved any coal mine, or 
mines, upon the public lands, and who shall be in actual pos- 
session of the same, is entitled to a preference right of entry, 
and it is provided that when any association of not less than 
four persons, duly qualified, as provided by law, shall have 
expended not less than $5,000 in working and improving any 
coal mine, or mines, such association may enter not exceed- 
ing 640 acres, including such mining improvements. 

MINES AND MINERAL LANDS. 

Lands valuable for deposits of mineral, such as fire and 
pottery clays, marble, asphalt, soda, sulphur, diamonds, or of 
the precious and common metals, are subject to sale under 
the mining laws. A location must be first duly made and re- 
corded, and certain sums must be annually expended. Five 
hundred dollars worth of labor and improvements must be 
laid out on each claim before patent can be applied for. The 
rules and regulations and methods of procedure are too exten- 
sive and complex to be reviewed at length in the compass of 
this brief article. Mining locations defeat all railroad and 
state selections, if the mines and minerals were known to 
exist, or were discovered prior to the time the road and state 
claims took effect. Homestead, desert, and timber and stone 
entries cannot embrace known mineral lands, unless it be first 
shown that the lands sought to be entered are more valuable 
for agricultural purposes than for the minerals they contain. 



MINING LAWS OF WYOMING. 93 



MINING LAWS OF WYOMING. 



Organ 1 ' zation cf Mining District. 

Section 1. In any mining district or in mining field of discovery of 
veins, leads, lodes or ledges, or of gold placers, petroleum fields, soluble 
salt deposits, or of mineral lands whatever, or of any lands that are, or 
may be hereafter, opened to location under the laws governing mineral 
deposits, the miners may meet and organize and elect a recorder and make 
regulations, not in conflict with the laws of the United States or with the 
laws of this state, governing the location, manner of recording and amount 
of annual work necessary to hold possession of a mining claim within the 
district, subject to the following requirements: 

1. That any five miners having locations, or owning, in part or in 
whole, claims within the proposed district, shall give notice by at least 
three written or printed, or partially written and partially printed notices, 
posted in prominent places within the proposed district, of a meeting called 
by them for organizing such district, at a date at least ten days subsequent 
to the posting of such notices. 

2. That the meeting thus called shall be attended by at least ten per- 
sons, all having locations, or owning, in part or in whole, claims within 
the proposed district. 

3. That the recorder elected for such an organized district shall hold 
his ofn.ce until his successor is elected and qualified according to law. 
Such recorder is required to give bonds, with at least two sureties, to tli£ 
people of Wyoming, in the penal sum of not less than one thousand dol- 
lars, for the faithful performance of his duties, and for the turning over 
of all books, papers, records, etc.. of his office, to his duly elected and 
qualified successor, which bond shall be approved by the Judge of the 
District Court and filed in the office of the County Clerk and ex officio 
Register of Deeds. The recorder of such a mining district may appoint a 
deputy, for whose official acts he shall be responsible. 

4. That no district need be organized if the majority, at the meeting 
as hereinbefore provided, so desire, but when a district is once organized, 
it cannot be subdivided except in accordance with the local laws of the 
district, enacted at the regular or special meetings, or by action of the 
Legislature of this state. In case of the abandonment of any district, for 
any cause whatever, it shall be the duty of the district recorder, as soon 
as practicable thereafter, to deposit all records and other papers pertaining 
to his office in the office of the County Clerk and ex -officio Register of 
Deeds of the county in which such district is located. 

5. Each mining district may regulate the fees to be charged by the 
local recorder for recording location certificates, affidavits of labor and all 
other instruments to be filed in the said recorder's office. (S. L. 1888, 
Ch. i0, Sec. 1.) 

Copy of Laws and Proceedings to be Filed. 

Sec. 2. A copy of all laws, and the proceedings of each mining dis- 
trict, shall be filed by the recorder of the district in the office of the County 
Clerk and ex officio Register of Deeds of the county in which the district 
is situated, which shall be taken as evidence in any court having jurisdic- 
tion in the matter concerned under such laws or proceedings; and all such 
laws and proceedings of any mining district heretofore filed in the County 
Clerk's office of the proper county, and transcripts thereof duly certified, 



94 STATE OF WYOMING. 

shall have the like effect in evidence. Such copies of laws and proceed- 
ings shall be filed in the office of the said County Clerk and ex officio 
Register of Deeds by the recorder of each mining district within sixty days 
after the organization of each new mining district, or within sixty days 
after new laws were adopted or proceedings had. (S. L. 1888, Ch. 40, 
Sees. 2 and 3.) 
Use of Water. 

Sec. 3. Whenever any person, persons or corporations shall be en- 
gaged in mining or milling in this state, and in the prosecution of such 
business shall hoist or bring water from mines or natural water courses, 
such person, persons or corporation shall have the right to use such water 
in such manner, and direct it into such natural course or gulch as their 
business interests may require; Provided, That such diversion shall not 
infringe on vested rights. The provisions of this section shall not be con- 
strued to apply to new or undeveloped mines, but to those only which 
have been open and require drainage or other direction of water. (S. L. 
1888, Ch. 40, Sec. 4.) 
Mining Claims Subject to Right of Way. 

Sec. 4. AH mining claims or property now located, or which may 
hereafter be located, within this state, shall be subject to the right of way 
of any ditch or flume for mining purposes, or of any tramway, pack trail 
or wagon road, whether now in use, or which may hereafter be laid out 
across any such location, claim or property : Provided always, that such 
right of way shall not be exercised against any such mining location, 
claim or property duly made and recorded as herein required, and not 
abandoned prior to the establishment of any such ditch, flume, tramway, 
pack trail or wagon road, without the consent of the owner or owners, 
except in condemnation, as in the case of land taken for public highways. 
Consent to the location of the easements above enumerated over any min- 
eral claim, location or property shall be in writing. And provided furth- 
er, that any such ditch or flume shall be so constructed that water there- 
from shall not injure vested rights by flooding or otherwise. (S. L. 1888, 
Ch. 40, Sec. 5.) 
Protection of Surface Proprietors. 

Sec. 5. Where a mining right exists in any case and is separate from 
the ownership or right of occupancy to the surface, such owner or right- 
ful occupant of the said surface may demand satisfactory security from 
the miner or miners, and if such security is refused, such owner or occu- 
pant of the surface may enjoin the miner or miners from working such 
mine until such security is given. The order for such injunction shall 
fix the amount of the bond therefor. (S. L. 1888, Ch. 40, Sec. 6.) 

Re-Location Certificates. 

Sec. 6. Whenever it shall be apprehended by the locator, or his as- 
signs, of any mining claims or property heretofore or hereafter located, 
that his or their original location certificate was defective, erroneous, or 
that the requirements of the law had not been complied with before the 
filing thereof, or shall be desirous of changing the surface boundaries of 
his or their original claim or location, or of taking in any part of an over- 
lapping claim or location which has been abandoned, or in case the original 
certificate was made prior to the approval of this law, and he or they 
shall be desirous of securing the benefit of this law, such locator or locat- 
ors, or his or their assigns, may file an additional location certificate in 
compliance with and subject to this law; Provided, however, That such 
re-location shall not infringe upon the rights of others existing at the time 
of such re-location, and that no such re- location, or other record thereof 



MINING LAWS OF WYOMING. 95 

shall preclude the claimant or claimants from proving any such title, or 
titles, as he or they may have held under any previous location. (S. L. 

1888, Ch. 40, Sec. 7.) 

Location Certificate Shall Describe but One Claim. - 

Sec. 7. No location certificate shall contain more than one claim or 
location, whether the location he made by one or more locators, and any 
location certificate that contains upon its face more than one location claim 
shall be absolutely void, except as to the first location named and de- 
scribed therein, and in case more than one claim or location is described 
together, so that the first one cannot be distinguished from the others, the 
certificate of location shall be void as an entirety. (S. L. 1888, Ch. 40, 
Sec. 8.) 
Stealing Mining Claims—Penalty— Evidence. 

Sec. 8. In all cases when two or more persons shall, through col- 
lusion or otherwise, associate themselves together for the purpose of ob- 
taining possession of any lode, gulch or placer, or other mineral claim or 
mining property within this state, then in the actual possession of another 
or others, v by force and violence, or threats of violence, or by stealth, and 
shall proceed to carry out such purpose by making threats to and against 
the party or parties in possession of, or who shall enter upon such lode, 
gulch, placer or other mineral claim or mining property for the purposes 
aforesaid, or who shall enter upon or into mineral claim or mining prop- 
erty; or, not being on such mineral claim or mining property, but within 
hearing of the same, shall make any threats or any use of any language, 
signs, gestures, intended to intimidate any person or persons in possession 
or at work on the said claim or claims of mineral property of whatever 
kind or nature, from continuing such possession or work thereon or 
therein, or to intimidate others from engaging to be employed thereon or 
therein, every such person or persons so engaging shall be guilty of a 
misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be fined in a penal sum 
not exceeding two hundred and fifty dollars, Or be imprisoned in the 
county jail for not less than thirty days nor more than six months, or by 
both such fine and imprisonment. On trial of any person or persons 
charged with any of the offenses enumerated in this section, the proof of 
a common purpose of two or more persons to unlawfully secure possession 
of any mining claim or mineral property within the state, or to intimid- 
ate any one in the possession of, or laborers at work upon any mineral 
claim or mining property aforesaid, accompanied or followed by any acts 
or utterances of such person or persons as herein enumerated, shall be 
sufficient evidence to convict any one committing such acts, although 
such parties may not be associated or acting together at the time of the 
commission of such offenses. (S. L. 1888, Ch. 40, Sec. 9.) 

Destroying Mining Property— Penalty. 

Sec. 9. Any person who shall unlawfully cut down, break down, 
level, demolish, destroy, injure, remove or carry away any sign, notice, 
post, mark, monument or fence upon or around any shaft, pit, hole, in- 
cline or tunnel, or any building, structure, machinery, imj)lements or 
other property on any mining claim or mineral property, ground or 
premises, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof 
shall be fined a peual sum of money not less than fifty dollars nor more 
than one thousand dollars, or be imprisoned for not less than thirty days 
nor more than one year, or by both such fine and imprisonment, in the 
discretion of the court, (S. L. 1888, Ch. 40, Sec. 10.) 
Mining Swindles— Penalty. 

Sec. 10. Any person or persons who shall defraud, cheat, swindle 



96 STATE OF WYOMING. 

or deceive any party or parties in relation to any mine or mining- property 
by "salting 1 ', or by placing or causing to be placed in any lode, placer or 
other mine, any genuine metals or material representing genuine min- 
erals, which are designed to cheat or deceive others, for the purpose of 
gain, whereby others shall be deceived and injured by such, shall be 
guilty of a felony, and upon conviction thereof shall be fined in a penal 
sum of not less than fifty dollars and not more than five thousand dollars, 
or imprisoned in the penitentiary for not more than three years, or both 
fine and imprisonment, in the discretion of the court. (S. L. 1888, Ch. 
40, Sec. 11.) 

Protection of Live Stook from Mining Shafts— Penalty. 

Sec. 11. Every person, persons, company or corporation, who have 
already sunk mining shafts, pits, holes, inclines, upon any mining claim, 
or on any mineral property, ground or premises, or who may hereafter 
sink such openings aforesaid, shall forthwith secure such shafts and open- 
ings against the injury or destruction of live stock running at large upon 
the public domain, by securely covering such shafts and other openings, 
as aforesaid, in a manner to render them safe against the possibility of 
live stock falling into them, or in any manner becoming injured or de- 
stroyed thereby ; or by forthwith making a strong, secure and ample fence 
around such shafts and other openings aforesaid. Any person, persons, 
corporation or company that shall fail or refuse to fully comply with the 
provisions of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and on con- 
viction thereof shall be liable for any damages sustained by injury or loss 
of live stock thereby. (S. L. 1888, Ch. 40, Sec. 12. 

Length of Lode Claim. 

Sec. 12. The length of any lode mining claim located within Wyo- 
ming shall not exceed fifteen hundred feet, measured horizontally along 
such lode or vein. Nor can the regulations of any mining district limit 
a locator to less than this length. (S. L. 1888, Ch. 40, Sec. 13.) 

Width of Lode Claim. 

Sec. 13. The width of any lode claim located within Wyoming shall 
not exceed three hundred feet on each side of the discovery shaft, the dis- 
covery shaft being always equally distant from the side lines of the claim. 
Nor can any mining district limit the locator to a width of less than one 
hundred and fifty feet on either side of the discovery shaft. (S. L. 1888, 
Ch. 40, Sec. 14.) 

Recording Mining Claims— Requisites of Certificates. 

Sec. 14. A discoverer of any mineral lead, lode, ledge or vein shall, 
within sixty days from the date of discovery, cause such claim to be re- 
corded in the office of the County Clerk and ex officio Register of Deeds 
of the county within which such claim may exist, by a location certifi- 
cate, which shall contain the following facts: 

1. The name of the lode claim. 

2. The name or names of the locator or locators. 

3. The date of location. 

4. The length of the claim along the vein, measured each way from 
the center of the discovery shaft, and the general course of the vein as far 
as it is known. 

5. The amount of surface ground claimed on either side of the center 
of the discovery shaft or discovery workings. 

6. A description of the claim by such designation of natural or fixed 
objects, or if upon ground surveyed by the United States system of land 
survey, by reference to section or quarter- section corners, as shall identify 
the claim beyond question. (S. L. 1888, Ch. 108, Sec. 1.) 



MINING LAWS OF WYOMING. 97 

Imperfect Certificates Void. 

Sec. 15. Any certificate of the location of a lode claim which shall 
not fully contain all the requirements named in the preceding- section, to- 
gether with such other description as shall identify the lode or claim with 
reasonable certainty, shall be void. (S. L. 1888, Ch. 40, Sec. 16.) 

Pre-Requisites to Filing Location Certificate. 

Sec. 16. Before the filing of a location certificate in the office of the 
County Clerk and ex officio Register of Deeds, the discoverer of any lode, 
vein or fissure shall designate the location thereof as follows: 

1. By sinking a shaft upon the discovered lode or fissure to the depth 
of ten feet from the lowest part of the rim of such shaft at the surface. 

2. By posting at the point of discovery, on the surface, a plain sign 
or notice, containing the name of the lode or claim, the name of the dis- 
coverer or locator, and the date of such discovery. 

3. By marking the surface boundaries of the claim, which shall be 
marked by six substantial monuments of stone or posts, hewed or marked 
on the side or sides, which face is toward the claim, and sunk in the 
ground, one at each corner and one at the center of each side line, and 
when thus marking the boundaries of a claim, if any one or more of such 
posts or monuments shall fall, by necessity, upon precipitous ground, 
when the proper placing of it is imxjracticable or dangerous to life or limb, 
it shall be lawful to place any such post or monument of stone at the near- 
est point, properly marked to designate its right place ; Provided, That 
no right to such lode or claim or its possession or enjoyment, shall be 
given to any person or persons, unless such person or persons shall dis- 
cover in said claim mineral-bearing rock in place. (S. L. 1888, Ch. 40, 
Sec. 17.) 

What Open Cut Equivalent to Discovery Shaft. 

Sec. 17. Any open cut which shall cut the vein ten feet in length, 
and with face ten feet in height, or any cross-cut tunnel, or tunnel on the 
vein ten feet in length which shall cut the vein ten feet below the surface, 
measured from the bottom of such tunnel, shall hold such lode the same 
as if a discovery shaft were sunk thereon. (S. L. 1888, Ch. 40, Sec. 18.) 

Time Given Discoverer to Sink Shaft. 

Sec. 18. The discoverer of any mineral lode or vein in this state 
shall have the period of sixty days from the date of discovering such lode 
or vein, in which to sink a discovery shaft thereon. (S. L. 1895, Ch. 108, 
Sec. 2.) 

Mineral Boundaries Defined. 

Sec. 19. The locators of all mining locations heretofore made, or 
which shall hereafter be made, on any mineral vein, lode or ledge, situ- 
ated on the public domain, their heirs and assigns, shall have the exclu- 
sive right of possession and enjoyment of all the surface included 
within the lines of their locations, and of all veins, lodes and ledges 
throughout their entire depth, the top or apex of which lies inside of sur- 
face lines extended downward vertically, although such veins, lodes or 
ledges may so far depart from a perpendicular in their course downward 
as to extend outside the vertical side lines of such surface locations. But 
their right of possession to such outside parts of such veins or ledges shall 
be confined to such portions thereof as lie between vertical planes drawn 
downward as above described, through the end lines of their locations, so 
continued in their own direction that such planes will intersect such ex- 
terior parts of such veins or ledges. And nothing in this section shalL 

9 



98 STATE OF WYOMING. 

authorize a locator or possessor of a vein or lode which extends in its 
downward course beyond the vertical lines of his claim to enter upon the 
surface of a claim owned or possessed by another. (S. L. 1888, Ch. 40, 
Sec, 20.) 

Re-Location of Abandoned Claims. 

Sec. 20. Any abandoned lode, vein or strata claim may be re-located 
and such re-location shall be perfected by sinking a new discovery shaft 
and by fixing new boundaries in the same manner as provided for the 
location of a new claim, or the re-locator may sink the original discovery 
shaft ten feet deeper than it was at the time of its abandonment, and erect 
new, or adopt the old boundaries, renewing the posts or monuments of 
stone, if removed or destroyed. In either event, a new location stake 
shall be fixed. The location certificate of an abandoned claim may state 
that the whole or any part of the new location is located as an abandoned 
claim. (S. L. 1888, Ch. 40, Sec. 21.) 

Location Certificates of Placer Claims. 

Sec. 21. That hereafter the discoverer of any placer claim shall, 
within thirty days of the date of discovery, record such claim with the re- 
corder of the mining district in which it is situated, if such district be or- 
ganized, and shall, within ninety days from the date of discovery, cause 
such claim to be recorded in the office of the County Clerk and ex-officio 
Register of Deeds of the county within which such claim may exist, by a 
location certificate, which shall contain in either or both cases the follow- 
ing facts: 

1. The name of the claim, designating it as a placer claim. 

2. The name or names of the locator or locators thereof. 

3. The date of location. 

4. The number of feet or acres thus claimed. 

5. A description of the claim by such designation of natural or fixed 
objects as shall identify the claim beyond question. Before filing such 
location certificate, the discoverer shall locate his claim: first, by securely 
fixing upon such claim a notice, in plain painted, printed or written let- 
ters, containing the name of the claim, the name of the locator or locators, 
the date of discovery and the number of feet or acres claimed, second, by 
designating the surface boundaries by substantial posts or stone monu- 
ments at each corner of the claim. (S. L. 1888, Ch. 40, Sec. 22.) 

Assessment Work on Placer Claims. 

Sec. 22. For every placer claim, assessment work, as hereinafter 
provided, shall be done during each and every calendar year after the first 
day of January following the date of location. Such assessment work 
shall consist in manual labor, permanent improvements made on the claim 
in buildings, roads or ditches made for the benefit of working such claim, 
or after any manner, so long as the work done accrues to the improve- 
ment of the claim, or shows good faith and intention on the part of the 
owner or owners, and their intention to hold possession of said claim. 
(S. L. 1888, Ch. 40, Sec. 23.) 

Amount of Assessment Work. 

Sec. 23. On placer claims of an area of one hundred and sixty acres 
heretofore or hereafter located in this state, and not situated in an organ- 
ized district, not less than one hundred dollars' worth of assessment work 
shall be performed during each calendar year, from the first day of Janu- 
ary following the date of location. On every placer mining claim so lo- 
cated, of less than one hundred and sixty acres, the amount of annual 
assessment work shall be at the rate of sixty-two and one-half cents per 



MINING LAWS OF WYOMING. 99 

acre for each and every acre and fraction thereof ; Provided, That the 
total amount to be annually expended be in no case less than fifteen dol- 
lars. (S. L. 1888, Ch. 40, Sec. 23.) 

Assessment Work upon Contiguous Claims. 

Sec. 24. When two or more placer mining claims lie contiguous 
and are owned by the same person, persons, company or corporation, the 
yearly expenditure of labor and improvements required on each of such 
claims may be made upon any one of such contiguous claims, if the own- 
er or owners shall thus prefer. (S. L. 1888, Ch. 40, Sec. 23.) 

Amount of Asser^snt Work May Be Regulated by Mining District. 

Sec. 25. Where such placer claims are situated in an organized min- 
ing district, or if they are finally embraced in such a district, then the 
amount of assessment work and the manner of its accomplishment shall 
be regulated entirely by the district laws, whether the amount of work 
required annually be greater or less than the amount hereinbefore set forth 
as required of placer claims not located in such districts. (S. L. 1888, Ch. 
40, Sec. 23.) 

Effect of Failure to Do Assessment Work. 

Sec. 26. Upon failure of the owners to do or have done the assess- 
ment work required within the time above stated, such claim or claims 
upon which such work has not been completed shall thereafter be open to 
re-location on or after the first day of January of any year after such 
labor or improvements should have been done, in the same manner and on 
the same terms as if no location thereof had ever been made; Provided, 
That the original locators, their heirs, assigns or legal representatives have 
not resumed work upon such claim or claims after failure, and before any 
subsequent location has been made. (S. L. 1888, Ch. 40, Sec. 23.) 

Affidavit of Assessment Work Done. 

Sec. 27. Upon completion of the required assessment work for any 
mining claim, the owner or owners, or agent of said owner or owners, shall 
cause to be made by some person engaged in performing the work, an affi- 
davit setting forth that the required amount of work was performed, which 
affidavit shall, within thirty days after the completion of the work, be re- 
corded in the office of the recorder of the district in which the claim is sit- 
uated, if such be organized, or if such district be not organized, such affi- 
davit shall, within sixty days of completion of the work, be filed for 
record in the office of the County Clerk and ex officio Register of Deeds 
of the county in which said claim is located. (S. L. 1888, Ch. 40, Sec. 23) 

Patent to Placer Claim. 

Sec. 28. When any person, persons or association, they and their 
grantors have held and worked their placer claims in conformance with 
the laws of this state and the regulations of the mining district in which 
such claim exists, if such be organized, for five successive years after the 
first day of January succeeding the date of location, then such person, 
persons or association, they and their grantors, shall be entitled to proceed 
to obtain a patent for their claims from the United States without per- 
forming further work; but where such person, persons or association, 
they and their grantors, desire to obtain a United States patent before the 
expiration of five years from the date hereinbefore mentioned, they shall 
be required to expend at least five hundred dollars' worth of work upon 
a placer claim. (S. L. 1888, Ch. 40, Sec. 24.) 

Miners' Labor Lien. 

Sec. 29. Every miner, or other person, who, at the request of the 

. ofC 



100 STATE OF WYOMING. 

owner of any ledge or lode of quartz-bearing gold, silver, lead, cinnabar 
or copper, or any coal- bank or mine, shall work in or upon said mine or 
bank, or do assessment work upon or in any mining claim, lode or placer, 
or upon or in any soda well or lake, oil well or spring, shall have a lien 
upon such vein or lode, mine or bank, well, lake or spring, to the amount 
due at any time when a demand shall be made upon such owner, or his or 
their agent, for money due for such labor, and payment shall be refused. 
(S. L. 1897, Ch. 62, Sec. 1.) 

Kotice of Miners' Labor Lien. 

Sec. 30. When any sum, exceeding ten dollars, for labor performed 
by any miner, or other person upon or in any mine or coal-bank specified 
in this chapter, shall be due and unpaid for ten days, it shall be compe- 
tent for the person or persons to whom such sum or sums of money shall 
be due, to file a notice in the office of the County Clerk in the county 
where such mine is situated, at any time within six months of the last day 
upon which work was done by him. Which notice shall, in substance, 
set forth the fact that the party performed the labor (naming the kind) for 
a party or company (naming the party or company), that such labor was 
performed under a contract (stating the substance) ; also, the time when 
the party commenced and ceased to work, the amount still due and un- 
paid, together with a description of the mine or coal-bank upon which 
such work was performed, which statement shall be verified by the affi- 
davit of the party so filing it, and when filed, the County Clerk shall re- 
cord the same in a "lien book", the same as required in the case of me- 
chanic's notice of lien. (S. L. 1897, Ch. 64, Sec. 1.) 

NOTE.— Coal Mines not Included in this Chapter. — With the exception of Sees. 27 and 30 
none of the provisions of the foregoing sections of the mining laws apply to the working of coal mines. 



HUNTING AND FISHING. 



SYNOPSIS OF LAW. 

For many years game was killed for food purposes at all 
seasons and in unlimited quantities, but the Legislature of 
1899 enacted stringent laws for the protection of fish and 
game animals. Game fish may be caught only by means of 
rod, line and hook, during the months of May, June, July, 
August and September, but no more than twenty pounds of 
game fish can be in the possession of any one person or party 
at any time. No trout or black bass less than six inches in 
length can be legally caught. No game fish can be offered 
for sale or shipped from the State. The State Fish Commis- 
sioner may permit seining in lakes which have been stocked 
with lake trout, whitefish or carp. 

Trout-fishing may now be enjoyed in almost all parts of 
the State. Snake River, North Platte, Laramie and Big Horn 
rivers furnish the best of fishing, while the smaller tributaries 
are filled with brook trout. Under the direction of the Fish 
Commissioner over 7,000,000 fish fry have been distributed in 
the waters of the State, and almost every stream has been 
stocked. Brook trout weighing five pounds and rainbow 



BRIEF NOTES. 101 

trout weighing ten pounds are caught in the Platte River, 
near Saratoga. 

Grouse and prairie chickens may be shot from August 
15th to December 1st of each year; sage chickens from July 
15th to October 15th; snipe or other wader, or plover, duck, 
brant and geese may be shot from September 1st to May 1st. 

A bona fide citizen of the State of Wyoming may hunt, 
during the open season, within the limits of the county in 
which he is an actual resident, without the payment of a gun 
license. Upon the payment of one dollar to any justice of the 
Peace, he is entitled to a gun license, which will permit him 
to hunt in any county in 'the State. It is not necessary to 
have a gun license to hunt game birds. Non-residents must 
pay forty dollars for such gun license and must be accom- 
panied by a qualified guide, when hunting within the State 
of Wyoming. During the open season licensed parties, as 
before specified, shall be permitted to kill two elk, two deer, 
three antelope, one mountain sheep and one mountain goat, 
between September 1st and December 1st. The barter or sale 
of any part of the animals above mentioned, or the possession 
of more than the specified number, is prohibited, under a pen- 
alty of a heavy fine or imprisonment. 

Any competent person, who is a bona fide citizen of Wyo- 
ming, upon the payment of ten dollars to any Justice of the 
Peace, is entitled to receive a certificate as guide, and must 
act as ex officio Assistant Game Warden, and be responsible 
for any violation of the law by any person in the party under 
his guidance. No person shall act as guide for pay without 
procuring a guide's license. 

Game killed by licensed hunters may be shipped from the 
State, upon a certificate from a Justice of the Peace, stating 
that such animals were killed according to law. It is unlaw- 
ful to sell any part of any wild animal, hides or horns, or to 
use dogs for the purpose of running or coursing the animals 
above mentioned. 

A pamphlet copy of the compiled game laws of Wyoming 
will be forwarded upon application to the Secretary of State. 



BRIEF NOTES. 



The State of Wyoming welcomes settlers seeking homes, 
and has many inducements to offer. 

To investors the State offers protective laws and good 
opportunities for investment. 

The natural resources of the State justify the expectation 
of great future development. 

The oil belt extends entirely across the State from south- 



102 STATE OF WYOMING. 

west to northeast. Natural gas is known to exist at various 
points adjacent to the explored oil belt. 

Excellent brick clay is found and used in every part of 
the State. 

It is well known that potatoes grown by irrigation, as in 
Wyoming, are of exceptional quality. 

It is equally true that all vegetables and fruit grown in 
the same manner are sound and free from imperfections. 

Wyoming wheat, grown by irrigation, took the first prize 
at the World's Fair, and the flour mills of Wyoming manu- 
facture excellent flour. 

Wyoming produced 744 tons of coal per annum for each 
man employed in the mines, an average probably exceeded 
by no other State. 

Alfalfa is an important Wyoming crop, the~yield approx- 
imating four tons per acre. 

Ranchmen combining live stock [and agriculture have 
been very successful. 

In 1898, 280,102 cattle, 81,361 horses and 1,597,202 sheep 
were assessed for taxation in Wyoming. It is known that not 
more than one-half of the cattle in the State have been re- 
turned for assessment, and a large increase is expected in 
1899. The actual value of live stock exceeds $17,000,000. 

The wool clip of Wyoming for 1897 approximated 14,OOO,00£) 
pounds. The average weight, per fleece, was about eight 
pounds, and the average price, per pound, eight cents. 

Owners of cattle and sheep are rapidly improving the 
grade of their herds and flocks. 

It is estimated that one quarter of the area of Wyoming 
is underlaid with coal, the seams varying from two to seventy- 
five feet in thicknesss. In many localities ranchmen obtain 
their fuel from veins in the immediate vicinity of their homes. 

In other localities they secure fuel, and also timber for 
building purposes, from the adjacent mountains. 

Food fish are now found in almost every lake and stream 
in the State. 

The climate of Wyoming is healthful, mild, equable and 
invigorating; cool in summer and mild in winter, with but 
few snowstorms until early spring. 

Wyoming will be noted as a resort for the sick in search 
of health. It contains many wonderful hot springs, whose 
curative properties are well known, but which are as yet re- 
mote from railroad communications, 

Large areas of state lands have been set aside for the 
benefit of the schools, and the income from this source is rap- 
ly increasing. 

The educational advantages of the State are a matter of 



BRIEF NOTES. 103 

pride to its citizens. In 1898 there were 13,042 pupils en- 
rolled in the public schools of the State. 

Of one thousand young men who enlisted in Wyoming 
during June, 1898, not one was unable to sign his name to the 
muster roll, and every man had received a fair education. 

"Wyoming furnished more volunteers for the United States 
army, in proportion to population, than any other state in the 
Union, and with fewer rejections in proportion to the number 
examined. 

It is a feature of the public buildings of Wyoming that 
they fully represent the amount invested in them, nor has the 
State been over-burdened with debt for their construction. 

Yellowstone Park, Jackson Hole, North Platte Valley, 
Big Horn Basin and many other localities furnish beautiful 
places of recreation during the summer months. 

It is a peculiarity of the native grasses that they cure 
upon the stalk, retaining all their nutriment, thus affording 
excellent winter pasturage for live stock. 

Wyoming has a State Veterinarian, and careful inspec- 
tion and prompt action combine to exterminate all cases of 
contagious diseases among animals brought into the State. 
An occasional case of glanders among horses and scab among 
sheep are the only contagious diseases among animals. Dis- 
trict sheep inspectors promptly exterminate scab in sheep. 

The valleys of the North Platte and Big Horn rivers, with 
elevations of from 3,000 to 7,000 feet, extending several hun- 
dred miles, and the lands lying near the smaller tributaries, 
afford opportunities for thousands of farmers to acquire land 
and carry on farming and stock-raising successfully, while 
the development of the mineral wealth of the State will fur- 
nish a market for their productions. 

On August 30, 1890, W. J. Sturgis, of Johnson County 
harvested the largest crop of potatoes ever grown on one acre 
of ground, namely, 974 bushels and forty-eight pounds. Of 
these, 838 bushels and forty pounds were merchantable, and 
136 bushels and eight pounds were small. These potatoes 
sold for a net profit of $714, exclusive of two prizes of $250 
each, given by the American Agriculturist and the State of 
Wyoming. 

The number of homestead entries in the Cheyenne Land 
Office during May, 1898, w^as greater than during any previ- 
ous month for four years preceding. 

Persons desiring information concerning the agricultural 
possibilities of the State should read the articles in this vol- 
ume by Professors Mead and Buffum. 

Those desiring information concerning the mineral re- 
sources are referred to the article by Professor Knight. 

The Secretary of State will forward pamphlets and maps 
of Wyoming upon request. 



104 STATE OF WYOMING. 



ELEVATION OF MOUNTAINS AND CITIES. 



CITY Elevation (Ft.) CITY Elevation (Ft.) 

Alcova 6,000 Hyattville 4,550 

Atlantic City 7,850 Jackson Hole 6,820 

Buffalo . . . . ! 4, 600 Jackson Lake 6,800 

Basin 3,400 Lander 5,372 

Cambria 5,400 Laramie 7, 149 

Casper 5,118 Lovell 4,200 

Carbon 6,821 Lusk 5,007 

Cheyenne 6,050 Medicine Bow 6,562 

Cheyenne (Capitol) 6,101 Newcastle 4,319 

Douglas 4,816 Otto 4,011 

Evanston .6,759 Rawlins ,6744 

Embar 5,900 Rock Springs 6,260 

Ft. Laramie 4,270 Rock Creek 6,704 

Ft. Steele 6,505 Sherman 8,247 

Ft. Washakie 5,462 Sheridan . . . . 3,750 

Ft. Yellowstone 6,370 Sundance 4,700 

Four Bear. 6,500 Saratoga 7,000 

Green River 6,077 Thermopolis 4,600 

Glenrock 4,900 Tie Siding 7,890 

Hanna 6,788 Wheatland 4,700 

NAME MOUNTAIN RANGE ALTITUDE (Ft). 

Big Horn 8,000 to 12,000 

Bradley's Peak Seminoe 9, 500 

Chimney Rock Wind River 11,853 

Cloud Peak Big Horn 12,500 

Mt. Doane Yel]owstone 10,1 18 

Elk Mountain Medicine Bow 11,511 

Fremont's Peak Wind River 13,790 

Grand Encampment Park 11,003 

Grand Teton Teton 13,800 

Index Peak Yellowstone 11,740 

Laramie Peak Laramie 11,000 

Laramie Range 7,000 to 9,000 

Medicine Peak Park 12,231 

Medicine Bow Range 8,000 to 12,000 

Mt. Moran Teton 12,000 

Park Range, in Wyoming 11,500 

Phlox Mountain Owl Creek 9,136 

Pilot Knob Yellowstone 11,977 

Quien Hornet Uintah 9,300 

Sailor Mountain 10,046 

Seminoe Mountains (highest) 10,500 

Washakie Needles 12,252 

Mt. Washburn 10,388 

Yount's Peak Yellowstone 12,250 



